The Tic-Toc Game
by Chloe Chamberleign
Summary: Don't you love a good game board? See how seeminigly innocent fun becomes a dangerous game full of secrets, romance, and deadly passion. Seven ordinary girls didn't know what to expect after a mysterious game board sends them back to New York City, 1899. They have rules to follow, but it's not like anyone is there to make sure they follow them, right? Think again.
1. Chapter 1

"Who is it that can't eat peanut butter?" Kylie O'Deel's mother asked for like the hundredth time that night. It was Friday evening, the third day of winter break, and Mrs. O'Deel sat at the kitchen counter, glasses perched on her nose, calmly preparing what appeared to be grilled cheese.

Kylie felt the Vanilla Coke she was drinking fizz up her nose.

"I ordered pizza for you guys, but I thought as a cute snack I could make grilled cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, like in kindergarten!" Kylie's mom continued, excitedly.

Kylie rolled her eyes. "First of all, Ella is allergic to peanut butter, and second, this is not kindergarten, we're in eighth grade!"

Mrs. O'Deel nodded. "Okay, okay. I think I have some popcorn in the pantry down in the basement for you all. And soda is in the downstairs fridge. And limit Izzy to only two sodas, remember what happened last time?"

Kylie laughed at the memory of Izzy drinking five mountain dews and getting really hyper.

Mrs. O'Deel crossed her arms. "Kylie, I'm serious. I love Izzy to death, but keep her from bouncing off the walls, please."

Kylie stopped laughing and nodded.

Mrs. O'Deel pointed to a stack of old board games with a fine layer of dust atop each case. "I found these in the storage closet. Your father was going to give them away, but I convinced him to let me keep them. I used to play these games when I was little. You girls should play one of these."

Kylie shot her mom an are-you-kidding-me look.

Mrs. O'Deel frowned. "What? You guys would have fun."

"God, Mom, no," Kylie replied.

Mrs. O'Deel shrugged. "Fine, fine. You can go now. I just wanted your opinion."

Kylie hugged her mom. "I love you."

Her mom smiled. "I know. Now go finish setting up downstairs. Your friends are to be here at 7:30, and it's 7:25 already."

Kylie dashed out of the kitchen and swung open the small white door leading to the newly finished basement. The door of the basement was located in the hallway, and it was so camouflaged, you would miss it if you didn't know where to look. Kyle bounded down the grey carpeted steps. She walked over to the white fireplace mantel, which was decorated with pictures of her and her family, and lit the vanilla scented candles that were already laid out.

Kylie then grabbed her lavender-scented free breeze and sprayed it around the room. She arranged seven sleeping bags in between the chocolate lazy-boy duvet couch, and the plasma flat screen tv. She then sprayed lavender sheet spray inside the sleeping bags, too. She set a small nail polish bottle on each sleeping bag.

Next came the downstairs bathroom. She lit scented candles on the counter, and added a fresh roll of toilet paper on the holder. Kylie made sure the soap container was full, and brought in fresh hand towels.

The soft, brown rug carpeting the basement floor had just been vacuumed, and smelled like oranges. Kylie's basement was large and cozy, and had a big window that looked out to the O'Deel's back lawn. The basement smelled of lavender and burnt popcorn. Outside, lightning bugs had already begun to light up the purplish sky.

"Quite, Marbles!" Kylie snapped, even though her pet Pomeranian puppy was only playing with her bone squeaky toy. Kylie pressed Play on her ihome and "Loose My Breath", by Destiny's Child came blasting through her speakers.

Kylie's pajamas included puma short-shorts, a purple off the shoulder top, and slippers. Her auburn hair was thrown in a high ponytail, which dangled down her back.

Suddenly, the front door opened, and the familiar greetings exchanged between Kylie's friends and parents were heard. The girls were directed downstairs, where they all started talking at once.

"We're here, Kylie!" Izzy Kovek yelled, jumping down two steps at a time. She practically tackled Kylie. Kylie laughed.

"Whoa, there, Izzy. How much sugar did you have before you got here?"

Izzy grinned. "Only 143 grams." She was wearing a white "I Heart NY" shirt and black Nike shorts. Her raven hair was piled in a messy bun on top of her head.

Ella Menochi hugged Kylie next. "Omigod! You're here!" Kylie squealed. Ella had been in Italy for two weeks and had gotten really tan.

Ella laughed. "I know! I have so many things to tell you guys about my weird family in Italy." She wore white pajamas that had pictures of peace signs on them. Ella's dark brown hair were in high pigtails.

Julie Valentine ran down the stairs and hugged Kylie. She wore a New York Mets jersey and white pajama shorts, her chestnut colored hair in a long French braid down her back. "I brought candy!" She called. Izzy tackled her in a hug. Everyone laughed.

Zoe LeFanteyn dropped her sleep bag on the ground and hugged everyone. She had on an oversized grey v-neck and short-shorts. Her long blonde hair were in tow swiss-miss braids. "I learned how to play poker the other day, and I think I can finally beat Ella!"

Ella smiled. "Shut up! You don't know my poker strategies."

Everyone cracked up. Zoe and Ella then began shuffling cards.

Avery Hollis came down the stairs, her sister's lap top in her hands. She wore plaid boy shorts and a black shirt, her dirty blonde hair in a Katniss Everdeen side braid.

Sophie Woods came down behind her, her long blonde hair in two low pigtails. "Does Olivia know you stole that?"

Avery smiled evilly. "No, she's at a friends, so tell no one." Everyone cracked up again.

"Heya, blondie!" Kylie called out, hugging Sophie.

Julie smiled. "Yay! We're all in this together!"

"You watched High School Musical last night didn't you?" Avery asked Julie, mock punching her.

They all chattered happily as the claimed their spots on the couch. They all lived in Manhattan, New York, and had the accent to prove it.

"I can't believe we're all here!" Avery said. "This is going to be so fun."

"I know!" Ella added. "We should do something!"

Everyone turned to Kylie. "So... what are we doing first?" Asked Zoe.

Kylie smiled. "One thing first."

Sophie leaned in excitedly. "What?"

Izzy, looked up from the pile of candy in front of her. Even though she loved candy, you could not tell by her thin figure.

"Maybe a movie," Kylie suggested. The others agreed.

"Which movie?" Ella wondered.

Kylie grinned at her six best friends, who caught on and began smiling hysterically. Macy, Kylie's older sister, walked down the stairs, carrying three boxes of pizza in her hands. "Mom said to bring this down to you guys,"

"NEWSIES!" The girls shouted at the same time.

Macy rolled her eyes at her sister and her friends. "You guys are so lame. Kylie, you already watched newsies last week!"

Izzy jumped up and hugged Macy. "I love you Macy!"

Macy was like the all the girls' older sister. Macy pried Izzy off of her and laughed.

"So?" Ella said back to Macy.

"Newsies. Are. Life." Julie furthered.

"But-" Macy tried to retaliate, but it was to late. Avery had already put the DVD in and hit Play.

Macy shrugged and bounded up the stairs. When the movie showed the boys in the Lodging House, they heard Zoe squeal, "I love this movie so much!"

The others silent nodded in agreement.

When the first song started:

"Ah! Mush shirtless is way better than Skittles mixed with M&Ms!" Izzy exclaimed when he came on the screen.

"You're saying Mush is now a candy?" Julie teased.

Izzy glared lightly at her and said, "Yes, yes I am."

"Mush is cute," Kylie commented. "But he's not the hottest."

"Who?"

"Who is gorgeous, has beautiful eyes, and rhymes with hot?" Kylie told her smiling.

"Dot from the Animainiacs?" Ella asked, questioningly.

"Uh, duh!" Kylie said absent-mindedly. "I mean – what? No! Spot!

"Ha!" Ella continued. "Race is obviously the best."

"No! Have ya seen Blink? Hottie!" Julie argued. Soon, they were getting into an argument over which of the guys was the hottest.

"I love Race," Ella told them. "Being Italian, I must really like him."

"Um, no. Spot is better," Kylie commented.

"Please! Spot's two years old! Besides, Mush is adorable." Izzy argued.

"Nuh-uh! Zoe?." She looked to her friend for help but saw her looking indifferent. "Zo?"

"Um-"

"Spot's awesome, right?"

"No! I think Spot is cute and all, but... It's just…I don't like him that much anymore."

"What? Who do you like?"

"David Jacobs, maybe?" Zoe said hesitantly

"No, he's a geek!"

"Zoe just has a thing for guys who can debate anything," Julie teased. Zoe threw a pillow at her.

"Skittery," Sophie said in a dreamy voice. The others looked to her.

"Skittery mode," Kylie saw. "Snap out of it, kid."

When he left the screen, she looked shocked. "No! Skittery! No!"

"He's her new addiction," Ella chuckled.

"He's so innocently negative." Sophie argued

"And so is David!" Avery pointed out.

"Yeah, David's a nerd." Zoe glared at her Sophie.

"What?"

"Don't fight The David."

"Sorry."

"Shut up! It's Brooklyn come to save the day," Avery let them know.

Kylie sat up. "I LOVE Brooklyn!" All the girls stared at her. "...and all the other burrows." She said.

"Slingshots are in." Izzy told them. "I read it in Seventeen!"

"I would be too scared to audition for the Brooklyn newsies." Zoe said.

"I'm pretty sure you don't audition to be a Brooklyn newsie." Izzy answered sarcastically."You just show up and impress Spot.

"Skittery is not cool enough!" Kylie said, shocked.

"What? Yeah he is!" Sophie replied.

"You want to marry Skittery!" Kylie argued. "You're crazy."

"You're a kinda insane for that, Soph..." Ella said.

"Hey!" Sophie yelled, eating a slice of pizza.

"I bet Kylie wins this argument! Who's betting?" Ella yelled, channeling her inner Race.

"Yes!" Kylie yelled.

"Oh, look, how smart. Jack still at the boxing ring." Julie said, pointing to the screen.

"There goes Snyder..." Zoe added.

"NO! JACK! RUN!" Avery shouted, as Jack and David and Les made a run for it.

"I trusted Jack to keep my David and Les safe!" Zoe yelled to Avery, jokingly.

"Good one, Brooklyn. They just got fined. Maybe they should've dubbed Spot as the Walking Mouth." Ella said sarcastically during the court scene. She and Izzy fist bumped.

"Kylie would so say that," Julie laughed.

"Hey!"

"Does Skittery physiological problems? He's so negative." Asked Zoe.

"I think so..." Added Avery.

"Shut up, both of ya!" Sophie yelled, covering her ears.

"Racetrack is so cute. Is his accent real?" Asked Ella.

"Probably. He's the only one that sings the best in that accent anyway..." Izzy grabbed another slice of pizza.

"Slingshots are hardly intimidating!" Julie joked.

"Why is Spot so intimidating?" Zoe asked, painting her nails.

"Because he's gorgeous and has a cane." Kylie answered. "And I have a thing for guys with ocean blue eyes."

"And dog names." Avery stated, grabbing a handful of popcorn.

"You apparently have a thing for guys with preoccupations to go to New Mexico." Kylie smiled back.

"No..."

"We need more Spot time! Jack, beat it!" Kylie yelled at the screen.

"She doesn't mean it Jack, she doesn't mean it!" Yelled Avery, apologetically.

"Spot's important. Racetrack is not in this movie enough!" Ella complained.

"Spot's in no way important - he's a moron with good lines." Izzy added. "Mush is important."

"Mush's only good line was 'Jacky just got laid' in the background." Kylie pointed out.

"Jack was the one who got taken to the refuge before anyone else." Julie pointed out.

"Oooh. Spot didn't help Jack then! What a diss to his community!" Avery teased.

"Ok, first of all, Spot probably was in the refuge some time in his life. Two, Jack doesn't have his own community. And three, how would Jack take that as a diss?" Kylie protested, opening a new soda.

"So?"

"Racetrack was probably in the refuge." Ella said.

"True." Sophie added.

"Spot isn't part of the Racetrack and Jack friendship club. Fact!" Avery and Ella high-fived.

"I really think they cast Jack before this movie was a musical." Zoe said.

"Cover your ears, Jacky-boy!" Avery yelled to the screen.

"Do the newsies think last names are, like, not in style or something?" Sophie asked.

"Spot's cool with last names..." Kylie yelled through mouthfuls of pizza.

"So is Jack..." Avery said.

"The name Francis Sullivan does not actually sound like a leader of men." Kylie answered.

"Neither does a kid with the name 'Spot.'" Avery said, laughing.

"Spot doesn't count." Kylie readjusted her ponytail.

"Really? But Jack does?" Ella complained.

"Jack dominates all! You don't even know who Spot or Racetrack are until halfway through." Avery crossed her arms.

"Spot wanted it that way." Kylie said smiling.

"So did Racetrack." Ella and Kylie fist-pounded.

"Haha, Spot's 'thrown' is made up of crates? That's adorable." Julie asked.

"Yeah, he has to hop two feet down to get off." Sophie said.

"Lovey dovey baby? What the hell is this supposed to be some kind of sexy baby talk lullaby?" Izzy commented.

"It won Les over, he fainted..." Zoe said, looking confused.

"Spot is not a womanizer!" Kylie yelled.

"There's like only four girls. Medda, Mrs. Jacobs, Sarah, and the chick in the beginning who they take their hats off for." Julie corrected.

"Never fear Brooklyn is here!" Kylie yelled. "It's Brooklyn... And Mush has to announce it."

"Hey it's the cavalry! Oh, wait, it's just a bunch of cute adolescent boys with toy slingshots with no money. Oh well, I guess we should all go home..." Ella joked.

"Hey!" Kylie smiled.

"Aww, poor Mush!" Izzy sighed.

"He only has one line in this scene..." Inquired Sophie.

"He's got more lines at heart." Izzy said, dreamily.

"Yeah, like 'Man, I really want a pair of new shoes with matching laces. Oh, God, there's a scab running at me! Better go and hide...'." Avery said sarcastically.

"Hey it's Spot and his friends: Spit, Spat, and Spite." Izzy burst out laughing.

"Mush plays ball like a girl!" Kylie yelled, smirking .

"What the hell?" Izzy laughed. "Did you just quote The Sandlot?"

"I really can see Spot saying what Kylie just said." Ella laughed.

"Same!" Avery laughed as well.

"Is Blink's eye patch real?" Sophie asked, purposely shocking Julie.

"Of course not!" Julie yelled.

"Mush is on screen! Thank you!" Izzy jumped up.

"Spot says 'you're welcome'!" Kylie smirked again.

"Why?" Izzy asked, confused.

"Spot's in the movie, that's why." Kylie said with a straight face.

"I love Mush! I would so take that shaving cream Jack through at him!" Izzy sighed.

"He's a newsie, Izzy. He's not a baby squirrel." Ella pointed out.

"It would be doing the right thing." Izzy protested.

"Totally wrong. If you baby squirrel Mush, you're just taking away his nuts." Ella stated.

Izzy glared at her and laughed. "Okay, Spencer Hastings."

"Why is Davey so damn adorable?" Zoe asked.

Avery through a pillow at her. "Zoe, you have as much subtly as a hand grenade."

"Thank you, Oprah." Zoe smirked.

"Eww! The Delancy brothers!" Sophie covered her face with a pillow.

"I am done eating. Forever." Ella said putting her pizza done.

When it was done, Ella told them, "I would love to go into the movie."

"Love it!" Izzy agreed.

"Only girl newsies! Ahhh!" Julie added.

"Around all those guys." Kylie continued.

"Being at the strike," Zoe admitted. The others agreed.

"Hey, it's storming out. We should play a game!" Avery suggested.

"Yeah. Sure. What games you got, Ky?," they answered.

Kylie thought for a moment. "Well, I gave all my old board games away. But there are these, well, never mind."

Sophie looked puzzled. "Spit it out, Ky."

Kylie thought and thought. "Well, my mom has these old board games upstairs, and-"

The others were already up the stairs in an instant. Kylie shrugged and followed them. The lights upstairs were all off, so her parents and sister must have gone to bed. The girls quietly grabbed the three board games from the kitchen and went back downstairs. They sorted through them once they had resumed their spots on the couch.

"Let's see," Ella said. "We've got Candy Land, Shoots and Ladders, and what the hell is this?" She asked, holding up an old, dusty game box.

The others huddled over it. It had a dark blue cover and was torn in some corners. On the box it had the words 'The Tic Toc Game.' Kylie cautiously lifted the lid.

Dust flew out and the girls all coughed. "Gross! This probably hasn't been played in years!" Izzy said.

A torn, dusty game board lay inside. A spinner and one little game piece was included.

"Does anyone else find it strange that there's only one pon?" Julie asked.

Zoe stared at her. "Stop it, Julie. You're just trying to scare us!"

"What?" Julie asked. "I'm just saying."

Avery pulled out the game board and set it on the coffee table. Everyone gathered around. The pon was a small circle. The board looked more like a time line, if anything, but it was hard to tell what with all the dirt on it. There were what looked like playing cards to go with them. An intricate design was on the back of each card. The spinner was more like a clock, except with dates on them. A thin, brownish paper was at the bottom of the box.

"This must be the instructions." Sophie said.

Kylie picked it up. "I'll read it." She cleared her throat. "It says: Welcome to the 'Tic Toc Game.' We're so happy to have you."

Ella scrunched her eye brows. "It does not say that!" Kylie showed her the paper, and sure enough it did. "Go on," Ella said. Everyone waited, breathless.

Kylie continued reading. "Just a few little words of advice. Since many have never played, don't play alone. In fact, we recommend you playing with six others. You don't have to be scared, just be prepared. It's very important to pay attention to the rules of this game, especially the last two. A player must only play by their own will. And while playing, you must not lie, cheat, or steal, unless one really, really needs to. There are no opponents in this game, just allies, trust me on that. Try to help each other out in this game. Try not to become attached to this game, keep your priorities in order. So do yourself a favor, and pay attention to these rules. But above all, once you have begun to play this game, there is no going back. And remember, there are no losers. Tic Toc and good luck. Signed, the Game Creator."

The room was totally silent. Kylie turned the paper over and found the rules. In very small script, she read:

"Rules Regarding the Tic Toc Game:

1. Must have seven players

2. Lights must be off

3. It must be the designated time of 12:00

4. All must play at their own will

5. There are no opponents

6. All game pieces must be put properly back in the box when game is finished

6. No getting attached to this game's content

"Instructions:

1. Place the game board on a flat surface

2. Place the clock spinner in the center

3. Place the cards next to the spinner

4. Turn is played counterclockwise among the players

5. Player spins clock, and moves that many spaces

6. During the same turn, player reads card

7. All wait

"All wait? What the hell?" Izzy asked, scratching her neck.

"I think we should play," Ella said, looking down at the board.

"Are you crazy? This game is... weird." Izzy protested.

"I wanna play, too..." Julie said, brushing back a strand of hair.

"Me, too." Zoe scooted closer to the game.

"I think we should give it a try," offered Avery.

"But we've never played this game, and-" Izzy started.

"Please, what's the worst that can happen, we get a paper cut?" Sophie said sarcastically. "We should play."

"Okay, fine. I kinda wanna play, too." Izzy said, smiling.

"Kylie?" Ella looked to her friend. All eyes were on Kylie. "What do you say?"

Kylie looked thoughtful, then broke into a smirk. "I say, that what you say, is what I say."

Everyone smiled and turned back to the game.

"Okay, Ky, your house, so you spin." Izzy said, patting Kylie on the back.

"Um, okay," Kylie hesitantly reached out her hand and spun the clock. Everyone waited breathless in the dark room. Just enough light was coming in through the window for the girls to see the game board. The room was dark. All was silent. Then the hand on the spinner landed.

"Well?" Julie whispered.

Kylie leaned over the spinner. "It landed on the nine."

Zoe took the pon and moved it nine spaces on the game board. "Okay, what now?"

"We pick a card." Avery said, picking a card for the group. She read it, over, and over again to herself.

"Well? What does it say?" Sophie asked.

Kylie laughed. "What's the matter? Bad fortune?"

Ella smiled. "Yeah, the gods say to stop being such a drama queen."

The other girls laughed. Avery didn't, but instead had her eyes glued to the card.

"Avery, what's wrong?" Izzy asked, trying to read the card over her shoulder.

"Read it out loud." Julie said.

Avery took a deep breath. "It says: The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may have been, to see them as they were."

"What does that mean?" Zoe asked, really confused.

"Who knows, I don't speak genius." Avery said, shrugging.

"Now what?" Asked Sophie.

"Now, we apparently wait." Kylie said, shrugging.

"Wait for what?" Ella asked.

"It doesn't say," Izzy said, glaring at the directions.

"Um, you guys." Zoe said uneasily.

"It can't just say to wait. Let me see the directions." Avery said, trying to grab them from Izzy.

"Guys?" Zoe said again.

"Just chill out!" Sophie said to Avery and Izzy.

"GUYS!" Zoe yelled. Everyone stopped arguing and turned to the usually quiet one. They all looked at her expectantly.

"Well, what is it, Zo?" Kylie asked.

Zoe was staring at the game board. Everyone followed her gaze.

"You guys, we forgot to read what our game piece landed on." Zoe said in a distant voice.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. What does it say?" Asked Ella, curious.

Izzy and Julie leaned in towards the game piece. Avery put down the directions and moved the game piece slightly to the side.

Sophie gasped. "I don't believe it."

Izzy looked. "Okay, now I've officially peed my pants."

"This can't be right, can it?" Asked Ella.

"That's impossible..." Julie started, but never finished.

"What does it mean?" Zoe asked, crinkling up her nose.

"Putting two and two together..." Avery said, thinking.

Kylie stared at where the pon had landed. "It says: 1899."

The window blew open. They all turned towards it. Kylie got up and went to close it.

She was having some trouble. "Guys, a little help?" she called. The others got up and went to help her. With all seven of them pushing, they were able to finally close it.

"Odd" Ella stated as they walked back to the couch.

No sooner had they all sat down when the room started to shake.

"What the hell is going on?" Izzy yelled out over the noise.

"I think we're having an earthquake!" Kylie yelled back.

They huddled together, eyes closed, screaming. A blinding light engulfed them in a flash, and their minds went blank. They felt like they were falling. Then, BOOM! Total darkness. Everything was absolutely still. No one made a sound.


	2. Chapter 2

Kylie was the first to look up. Her eyes widened as she looked around. Where was she? Had she fallen asleep somewhere on the couch and had a weird dream? And how long ago was it that her friends had also fallen asleep? All she remembered hearing was a loud crash. But when had she heard it? Was it before she fell asleep, or just now, or did she hear it in her dream? She couldn't recall. She hazily remembered the events of last night. Watching _Newsies_, talking about how fun it would be to live in that time, and ...

"What did that game just do?" she asked her friends, suddenly remembering.

The others looked up wearily, and stared inquiringly at her. "What do you mean?" Ella asked, her eyes drooping. "Last time I ever eat five pizzas and drink six mountain dews." She said, rubbing her neck.

"Is it cold in here, or is it just me?" Izzy asked, slowly sitting up, shivering.

"No, I feel a draft too." Julie said. "I wonder if – Oh my God."

Everybody looked towards her. "What?" Avery asked.

"What the hell are we wearing?!" Julie said, horrified.

Puzzled, the girls stared down at what they expected to be their pajamas. Zoe was dressed in a worn, red skirt, a white petticoat underneath. A dirty white blouse was her top, and black lace up boots were on her feet. A black shawl was draped around her. Her honey blonde hair was in a loose, messy bun. "I feel like my great, great, great grandmother." she said, grimacing.

Sophie gasped. She had on a faded, tattered pale blue dress that came to her calves. It was a bit low cut, and ragged looking. Torn, black tights covered her legs. Black lace up boots also were on her feet. Her long blonde hair was pulled in a long side braid. "I am suing." She said to the dirty ground.

Avery stifled a laugh, and then frowned upon seeing her own clothes. "Ah, nuts." She had on was wearing a ragged, black skirt and a red cotton shirt, and black lace up boots replaced her converse. She frowned. "Aw, the football team are never gonna go out with me now!"

Ella was wearing a grey cotton shirt, a faded, old blue shawl, a brown patched skirt, and brown lace up boots. A red hair scarf was tied under her long hair as well, and a cigar dangled from her fingers. "Ah! I don't smoke!" She yelled, throwing the cigar on the ground.

Julie sighed. She sported a blouse, a long grey skirt, a red shawl, and black lace up boots. Her hair was pulled in two french braids. "I felt something move in my shoes, and it wasn't my toes." She grimaced.

Izzy had on a grey dress that was high-waisted, and came to about her ankles. It was dirty on the edges, and her black lace-up boots were dust covered. Black stockings covered her legs. "Did Macy do this to us in her sleep or something?"

Kylie shrugged. She herself had on a faded white blouse and a short-ish grey skirt. She too had on lace-up boots and her hair hung straight down her shoulders. "Okay, I'm dreaming."

Ella shrugged. "Then I must be having the same dream." The others nodded.

"Where are we? Or when are we?" Izzy asked, taking in everything. The girls looked around and gasped. They sat in a dirty alleyway and pigeons flooded past them. People bustled in and out of the streets, all wearing similar clothing as to what the girls had on. The strong stench of fish and lake water wafted through the air. The girls inhaled, and then exhaled rather quickly.

"Aw, yuck!" Julie yelled, gasping for air. "Okay so, at least we have air. It's not good air, but it's air."

"More importantly: where the hell are we?" Avery said, looking rather dazed.

"I'm ashamed to say, I don't know," Sophie answered. Izzy shook her head, also confused.

Slowly, they all stood up and walked out to the alley entrance and into the sunlight. What they saw shocked them even more.

"This is impossible," Kylie whispered, absent-mindedly, looking around in wonder.

"What's impossible?" Zoe asked.

Kylie turned towards the group of bewildered faces. "I think... I think we may have, uh, time...traveled."

The girls glared at her in shock. "You can't be serious. Can you?" Ella asked, trying to chuckle, but it sounded forced.

"Maybe Kylie's right," Zoe said.

Avery found her voice. "I don't know,"

"This is funny. Not funny haha but funny peculiar." Sophie also put in.

"We need to talk," Kylie suggested. "Well, I think it's safe to say that we are no longer in 2012."

"We've established that," Ella stated. "But how did we get here?"

"It appears that time travel is what happened…somehow," Julie guessed.

"Ugh! It was that stupid game! I knew we shouldn't have played it!" Izzy said, sighing.

"But to where and when?" Zoe asked.

"The game square said 1899, so either we're here or that game boards a liar." Avery said.

Sophie looked up at a huge chalk board. Headlines were being written by men in bowler hats. "It says New York World."

"What?" Kylie asked.

She pointed to the headline. "That, what they're writing, is a headline for the New York World. So, my guess is that we're still in New York. And apparently in Manhattan."

Zoe put two and two together. "Guys remember what the game board said? The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may have been, to see them as they were."

The girls stared blankly at her. "So..."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "So in other words, we're in Manhattan in 1899! The game board sent us back in time."

Avery scratched her head. "This is kinda like that Back to the Future movie. Only better."

"Yeah, but we're not in the actual movie _Newsies_, right?" Ella questioned.

"Um-" she started to say.

"Extra! Extra!" a boy cried cried. "Ellis Island in Flames!" The girls looked over at him, jaws dropped, eyes wide.

"Wow," they all said at the same time.

"Oh my God, it's Jack!" Avery yelled. The boy turned, but the girls had disappeared behind the alley in an instant, laughing hysterically.

"That was strange..." Jack muttered to himself, and walked on.

"Okay, so we are in the movie... AWESOME!" Izzy yelled. The girls giggled and covered her mouth. They skipped cheerfully along the city sidewalk. Skipping was not something the onlookers were accustomed to, and they found themselves staring at the strange girls. It was late afternoon, nearly dusk. The strong November wind chilled past them. They shivered, calculating their next move.

The afternoon was cold and sleety, but that did not stop the girls from setting forth. The streets in the neighborhood they had landed in was quiet and lined with trees. The icy branches glimmered in the setting sunlight. The girls continued walking, no idea where they were going.

"Does any of this look familiar to you guys?" Julie asked as they walked along large estates with beautiful white Victorian houses. The girls shook their heads and continued walking.

"All these houses are so huge and nice, we must be in uptown Manhattan." Zoe guessed. "These skirts are so hard to walk in!" She yelled, nearly slipping on some ice and tripping over her skirt. Avery steadied her.

The sleet soon changed to slush, and there were no more pretty trees or large houses as the girls walked along the much bigger, broader, busier streets.

"Where are we now?" Asked Sophie to no one in particular.

Kylie sighed. "Seventeenth Street." She answered, reading a nearby sign. The girls paused, a bit overwhelmed by all the rough and rude commotion. Umbrellas bobbed above the crowd here and there. Hundreds of people jostled one another, pushing there way along.

"Don't fight the current." Ella said under her breath upon seeing the mob of people.

The streets were filled with the sounds of people shouting, laughing, and calling out in different languages. At every turn, pushcarts were lined up, selling pots and pans, or turkeys, or fish, or whatever.

"Keep together and stay close," Izzy told the others as they stepped off the curb, walking straight into the sea of people.

"We should've brought a pre-school safety rope or something." Julie muttered under her breath. The girls pushed a path through the crowd. The smell of the river was growing stronger and stronger. To avoid the huge crowd, the girls ducked down a narrow side street as small as an alley. The girls had a bad feeling that grew worse with every step. This neighborhood was not as cheerful and full of people as seventeenth street was. Groups of ragged people were slumped in old doorways. It was dark in this street and a chill ran up each girls' spine. The atmosphere was definitely negative. Little did the girls know, that they were being watched and followed.


	3. Chapter 3

A dark figure grabbed Zoe's arm, making her jump. "Goin' somewheres, girlie?" he asked, bearing yellow teeth.

"Um, y-yeah." Zoe said, uneasily.

Another guy pinned Kylie to the wall. "You new around here, dollface?"

"Uh, maybe," Kylie stammered.

"Shit, it's the Delancey Brothers." Izzy whispered to the others.

They tried to get away again, but this time Morris grabbed Julie's arm hard. She gasped at his force.

"Aw, Oscar, look. Little birds' got trouble." Morris sneered to his brother.

"So help 'em, Morris. Help 'em." Oscar grinned.

Morris also grabbed Avery's arm. "You're sendin' loud and clear, baby, loud and clear."

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "But you're getting the wrong message."

Oscar laughed, and turned to Morris. "Oh, look, Morris. The little girl's tryin' ta scare us. She for real?"

Morris smirked. "So ask her, Oscar."

Oscar turned back to Sophie. "You for real?"

Sophie looked frightened. Kylie spoke up for her. "Yes, she's for real."

"Aren't ya lost, doll? We could help ya." Morris grinned wickedly.

"Like hell we would let you." Ella growled.

Morris drew a knife from his back pocket, making the girls gasp. "You got a big mouth, girlie." He said, death in his eyes.

Kylie stared at him. "And you have a big knife. But that doesn't necessarily make you a big man." Morris' eyes widened, then he began to take small steps towards her, knife in hand. He kept walking, closer and closer. His knife was soon inches away from her throat.

"Cheese it!" Oscar yelled, suddenly, snapping his fingers.

"What for, brother?" Morris asked, an insane look in his eyes, still holding the knife centimeters from Kylie.

"Because I said so." Oscar growled. Morris gave Kylie one last glare, before reluctantly putting away the knife.

Oscar strolled up to Kylie. "Ya shouldn't get him angry, girlie. I mean he's a real bad boy."

Kylie held her ground. "Bad boys don't frighten me. Especially when they have to carry knives to give them courage."

Avery stepped forward. "I'll bet you don't carry a knife."

Oscar turned sharply to her. "Now how would ya know that, dollface."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Because obviously, you're the leader."

Izzy smirked. "And a leader doesn't need guns or knives to give him authority. His weapon is intelligence."

Oscar glared at her. "You know what? You're right." He turned to Kylie. "But, now tell me somethin', you were real scared weren't ya when ya saw that knife comin' at ya."

Kylie laughed. "Oh, you'd like for me to say that I was scared 'cause if I was, then what I am and what I believe in really isn't all that great, right?"

Oscar crossed his arms, growing impatient. He'd never dealt with girls with this kind of sarcasm. "Okay, so you're smart. But I still wanna know. Were ya scared?"

Kylie smirked. "Let's just say that: I feared for my mortal life, but not for my immortal soul."

Oscar uncrossed his arms. He looked confused, as did Morris. He nodded. "Crazy." He said, stepping back a bit. Then they began advancing towards the girls.

The girls were terrified. They were up against the wall in less then ten seconds. Sophie turned to Morris and Oscar.

"Oh thank goodness!" She turned to her friends. "The police are coming over here! We're saved!" She silently begged the others to play along. They nodded.

"Officer, please help us!" Julie yelled.

"They're coming over here!" Ella called. When the girls faced forward again, the Delancey brothers were no where in sight.

The girls laughed and high-fived each other. "Suckas!" They yelled.

They walked out of the alley and onto the busy road. "I loved how we kicked their ass." Julie said, smiling.

Izzy laughed. "Yeah, by using our brains." Everyone laughed.

"So are we still newsie-watching or you guys wanna chill?" Asked Ella, scanning the crowd.

Kylie nodded. "Both. Hey, let's go to central park!" Everyone agreed.

They began walking down the roads. "Wow, at least we know how to get there. But it's still kinda confusing." Ella added on the way.

Finally they arrived at a park flooded with people. There were people in suits and top hats, and long beautiful dresses with parasols.

"Cool! I feel so part of the movie!" Zoe squealed, excited. The others slowly smiled and agreed.

"What do we do now?" Asked Izzy.

"Well, I've got a softball with me." Sophie offered. The girls all played on the Manhattan Crusher's girl's select softball team, Kylie being their best pitcher.

"Really? You brought a softball with you to 1899?" Ella asked, surprised.

"Actually, I found it on the ground." Sophie shrugged, tossing it from one hand to another.

"Cool beans. Let's play." Julie said. "We have this whole park to play in."

The girls agreed, and spread out to create some kind of 'diamond.' Kylie took pitcher, Ella was catcher, Izzy was first base, Julie took second, Zoe took third, Avery claimed left field, and Sophie got right field.

Once they were all ready, they practiced throwing it to each other with incredible speed, since they didn't have a bat. This continued for another twenty minutes or so, little did the seven know that they were being watched, and closely, by four very unexpected characters.

Mush Meyers' eyes widened in amazement. Without looking away from the game, he asked his comrades, "Is that allowed?"

The boy next to him, known as Kid Blink, watched in confusion. "Is what allowed?"

"Skirts," Mush continued. "Playing catch."

Racetrack Higgins stood dumfounded. "They turned our park into a princess castle." He said, disgusted.

The game abruptly stopped. The girls turned, and tried to hide their excitement.

Racetrack looked around the group, but locked eyes with Ella. "What the hell are you all doing?"

The girls decided to play it cool and act as if they didn't know them. Ella rolled her eyes. "Aren't you witty."

"Besides, why would you care?" Izzy added, fighting every urge not to throw herself at Mush.

Jack Kelly straightened. "You can't be here."

"We can be anywhere we want, thank you." Avery said, stifling a smile.

"And do what?" Jack inquired, slightly amused.

Avery grinned. "Baseball." She said as if he asked her what color the sky was.

Racetrack shook his head. "What have you been smoking?"

Ella crossed her arms. "Meaning?"

Racetrack pointed to the softball in Kylie's glove. "Girls can't play baseball." He pulled an old baseball out of his pocket. "Men play baseball."

Ella smirked. "Then why are you playing?" The girls snickered.

Race could've been mad, but wasn't. In fact, he was impressed.

Jack glared at Avery, and she glared back, smiling slightly. "So?" He asked.

Avery looked around. "So what?"

"Give us back our park!" He said, growing impatient.

Avery shrugged. "This isn't you're park. I didn't see any signs. And last time I checked, Central Park is open for anyone."

The boys stood stunned. No girls ever dared talk back to a Manhattan newsboy, well 50% of the time, at least.

Race glared at Ella. "Listen, kids. We just sold all our papers so we could play baseball, not to negotiate with some amateur, stubborn-tongued, skirts who think they can play baseball. All of you should just go home and play with your dolls like normal girls."

Izzy stepped slightly forward. "What? Is that supposed to be a threat?"

Mush shook his head quickly. "Oh, uh, no! What he's saying is we wouldn't want pretty girls like yourselves to get hurt."

Kylie smiled. "And your one comment away from getting slugged in the face." She said sweetly.

The boys backed away slightly. Mush turned to the other newsies. "That's what I've hurt Spot Conlon say. They must be from Brooklyn."

Kylie rolled her eyes, obviously hearing them. "We're not from Brooklyn, and we can play if we want to." She crossed her arms.

Race handed the ball to Blink, and walked forward. "Sweet Jesus, are you blind!" He turned to Blink. "No offense, Blink." Blink nodded. Race grabbed the softball from Kylie, and held it up. "Girls can't play baseball!"

The girls rolled their eyes.

"You couldn't hit this baseball to save your life." He yelled. The other newsies laughed nervously.

Izzy fake laughed. "Neither could you."

Mush blinked. "Huh?"

Race glared at her. "I don't make bets I can't keep."

Jack stepped forward, staring at Izzy. "What are you saying?"

Kylie squared her shoulders. "I bet we can strike him out. Winner gets the park."

Race looked from Kylie to the rest of the girls. "You sure about that?"

Ella smirked. "Why? You scared? It's five to one odds. You in?"

Race smirked back. "You're on, Dollface." He turned to Mush. "Mush, get our bat."

Mush ran over to a park bench to grab an old wooden bat.

Jack clapped his hands. "Meeting." The boys ran over and circled up. He turned to Race. "Racetrack, what the hell did you just do?"

Race pointed to the girls. "It's an easy bet. They don't stand a chance."

Blink rolled his eye. "You've gotta stop making blind bets, Race! This is our playing park we could lose."

"You all don't trust me?" Then with another thought. "Don't answer that."

"Five to one odds." Mush spoke up.

Race looked befuddled. "What the hell?"

Mush shrugged. "They'se sayin' the odds are, they'll win."

"This isn't horse racing!"

Mush rolled his eyes. "I'm not complaining, it's just an observation! And, on the contrary, what if she threw three pitches, and struck you out?"

Race lit a cigar. "Are you high? They're girls! This is baseball! Okay, the chick whose pitcher will pass the ball, I'll smash it to Harlem, then we'll get the park back. Satisfied?"

The group looked to Jack to make the final decision. Jack glanced over at the girls, in particular Avery. Avery crossed her arms. "Are you in or not?" She asked, bored. She smirked ever so slightly.

Jack looked back at Race, and gave a head-nod. Race grinned. "It's a sure thing." He grabbed the bat, and headed toward the designated home plate.

About this same time, Spot Conlon had just gotten down selling his papers, and decided to play some baseball with his friends from across the bridge. He, however, stood completely dumbfounded on what fell in play before him. He stood next to Blink, Mush, and Jack, and eyed the game.

Kylie, who had not noticed Spot, stepped up to the pitcher's mound, tossing the ball and catching it. "Bring it." Race said, raising the bat.

Ella smirked. "Good luck, wise one." She said, bending down in catcher's position. The boys waited impatiently. Then, Kylie brought her hand down, wound it back, and swung it forward, letting the ball launch at full speed towards home plate. A perfect underhand fastball pitch. Ella caught it easily.

"What the-" Spot started, but was too stunned to finish. The boys uncrossed their arms and backed away slowly. Kylie stood patiently, smirking.

"Hurry up and pitch it!" Race said.

Ella turned to him, held the softball up, and threw it back to Kylie, who caught it.

Race looked stunned. "I, you, but, how?" He stuttered, tongue-tied. "What the hell did you just pitch?! That's completely unacceptable! I demand a redo!" The girls came together in a huddle, laughing and high-fiving.

Race stormed back over to the group. "You lost." Mush whispered, eyes wide.

"Yeah, no shit, kid." Race mumbled. "What happened?"

Blink pointed to the girls. "They creamed ya, tightwad."

"You lost!" Mush yelled, obviously disappointed by that.

Race rolled his eyes. "I'm not deaf Mush!"

"Race didn't even see that ball!" Spot laughed.

"Really? 'Cause you always hit the ball every time." Race grumbled.

"Well, not always, but I've never hit a pitch off a girl!" Spot smirked.

The boys faced the girls. The girls stood staring at them, snickering. The girls turned, and whispered.

"Oh my God, Kylie, Spot's standing there!" Izzy whispered.

"They're completely humiliated." Julie giggled.

Zoe laughed. "Duh."

Race looked back at the newsies. "They probably cheated."

Mush shook his head. "If you call a redo, they'll ring you out like the circulation bell."

"What the hell, Mush?" Race asked, annoyed.

Jack crossed his arms. "I'm positive people can't pitch underhand in baseball."

Meanwhile, the girls were still whispering. "Jack's so tough." Avery sighed.

"I know, look at how gorgeous Mush is!" Izzy added.

"Blink is so cute." Julie said.

"Hey!" Race yelled, walking over. "That underhand thing ya just did is against the rules of baseball."

"Since when?" Ella said, stepping forward. "Take a baseball class. It's allowed." The girls giggled and high fived.

The boys sighed and crossed their arms. "Um," said Race, slightly taken aback by the flirty way she said it. "Thanks." He walked back to the group. "So, let's review. We've lost out park to seven pretty girls and our reputations are forever ruined. We might as well jump off the Brookl-"

Spot rolled his eyes. He glared back at the girls, then directly at Kylie. He picked up the bat. "No we don't." Spot walked over to home plate. No one took away his reputation.

The girls turned back to face them. Kylie tried not to smile, and pretended to be annoyed. "Um, what are you doing?"

Spot smirked. "Exchanging batters. Take a baseball class. It's allowed." He said, repeating Ella's words.

Race grinned. "Yeah, it's definitely allowed!"

Kylie turned to her friends. "We can take him." The girls spread out to their field positions.

Blink nodded. "Spot can do this."

"They're done." Jack added, grinning.

"Yeah!" Mush said, enthusiastically.

Kylie tossed the ball back in forth. Spot took a few practice swings before bringing it back. The boys waited, arms crossed. The girls in the outfield smiled. Kylie wound up, and threw it.


	4. Chapter 4

Spot's bat hit the ball with a loud smack. Kylie bended her head back and watched the baseball soar through the air. But it bounced out of bounds, almost hitting Izzy in the side. "Geez, careful!" She yelled.

"Foul." Race said.

Spot got ready again. Kylie rolled her eyes, and pitched it.

Mush picked up the rolling ball. "Foul ball." He called.

Another pitch. "Try again." Five more followed.

"Foul ball." Blink said, after the seventh foul in a row. Two more pitches, the same result.

Kylie wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. Another pitch. "Foul ball." Race said, growing bored.

"Foul ball." Mush said, again, picking up the eleventh pitch and throwing it back to Kylie.

Five more pitches. Foul ball. Pretty soon, the shadows on the field disappeared and the street lamps came on. Kylie moved her shoulder a few times to get the circulation going. Spot looked at his calloused hands from swinging the bat.

"Uh, batter?" Kylie asked, pretending to not know his name.

Spot looked at her, annoyance in his eyes. "Yeah, what?"

"I was wondering if you wanna call it a draw."

Spot smirked. "If you're getting scared of the dark, sure."

Kylie straightened and glared at him. "I'm not scared!"

"Ky?" Avery called from left field.

"What is it Avery?!" Kylie yelled, annoyed.

Avery bit her lip. "Well, why don't we just share the park. It's gonna get dark."

Jack nodded and turned to Spot. "Spot, ya knows the cops don't like us playing baseball after dark."

"Kylie, the dark can be scary." Zoe said.

"So can the cops..." Race said under his breath.

"Okay." Kylie gave up.

"Fine, we'll share." Race sighed.

"Spot, it's almost curfew!" Mush called.

Spot reluctantly dropped the bat. He walked over to Kylie and held out his hand. His manner was not at all fierce. His face was sweaty from swinging the bat with such force. His voice was mild, not at all what Kylie had expected. Almost, it might have been thought that he was shy.

"Let's call it a draw, yeah?" He asked in his thick Brooklyn accent.

Kylie stared at his hand, and reluctantly shook it. "Agreed." The others on the field began walking towards those on the sidelines.

"What now?" Sophie whispered to Ella. Ella shrugged.

The group stood there, awkwardly staring at either side. "Well, uh, goodnight." Avery said, trying to smile. The girls looked hesitantly towards the dark, empty streets. Dogs barked, and policeman strolled through the alleyways, swinging their clubs and whistling under the dimly lit street lamps. Only a few people remained on the barren streets loitering. They had no idea where they were gonna stay.

Mush followed the girls' frightened gaze. His eyes grew wide. "Do, you girls not have a place to stay?"

Izzy looked sheepishly at him. "No, but I'm sure we'll think of something. We're, uh, from out of town, if you will."

Mush, being the sentimental one, looked shocked. He turned to the other newsies. "We can't allow these poor girls to roam the streets at night at the mercy of strangers. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to them."

Race rolled his eyes, and Jack lightly punched him in the arm.

Blink nodded. "Yeah, how's 'bout they's stay with us."

Jack shook his head. "I don't know..."

Ella stared directly at Race and made a sad, puppy-dog face. His expression softened. "We do have some extra bunks."

Jack walked over to the group. "Do ya girls have any money?"

Avery pulled ten cents out of her pocket, and handed it to him. He nodded. "Welcome to Manhatten."

Mush, Race, and Blink grinned. "Then it's settled! You'll stay with us." Mush said, excitedly.

"Come on, let's go before Kloppman locks us out." Blink said. They began walking towards the street.

Spot nodded. "See ya around guys, girls." He said, before walking towards the bridge.

A strong December wind stung their faces as they made they're way to the Lodging House on Duane Street. Just as the group was making a turn down sixteenth street, a policeman dressed in a black uniform and hat, stepped in their way, club in hand. He had a black mustache arched over his upper lip, and a pale complection. "Hey, you kids! You know the law: no hanging around after dark."

Jack straightened. "We ain't hanging around, Officer. We're walking back to the Lodging House."

Race nodded. "Yeah, late night selling papers is all."

The officer frowned. "Yeah, well I suggest ya move it quicker, or else I'll have you all arrested for loitering."

Mush rolled his eyes. The officer noticed, and his frown deepened. "Be reasonable kids and move along, yeah? Come on, everybody, let's go. Move! Let's go, let's go!" He said, shooing them along. "Hurry up! No loitering."

The group trudged along rather quickly. Luckily, the Lodging House loomed ahead at the next corner. The big grey building looked sturdy and solid and welcoming.

"Here we are," said Blink as they walked up the steps.

Julie took a deep breath once they were inside. "Something smells like smoke." She said.

Mush nodded understandingly. "Some of the guys smoke, is all." He explained.

"Okay, first we'll find Kloppman. Then, we'll show you around." Jack lead them down a small, unswept hallway. There was one sitting room in the front entrance with a moth eaten couch and a small fireplace. Kloppman had an office, but he was hardly ever in it. The boys knew they would most likely find Kloppman at his desk. Sure enough, there he was near the sign-in book.

Kloppman was an elderly gentlemen in his late sixties, with white hair, and a small cane. He smiled with an amused surprise upon seeing the boys accompanied by the seven girls, and waved. "Well, if it isn't Cowboy and the gang." Kloppman's eyes sparkled. "I'm glad to see you. We missed you for dinner tonight." He turned his attention towards the girls. "And who are these beautiful young ladies, hmm?"

Jack and the boys looked quizzically at the girls, for they too hadn't learned their names yet. Avery stepped forward. "My name is Avery, and this is Kylie, Julie, Sophie, Izzy, Zoe, and Ella." The girls smiled.

Kloppman grinned, and connected the newsies to the girls with his reading glasses in the air. "You their girls?"

The boys faces flushed and they shot Kloppman death glares. Kloppman chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Will they be staying the night?"

"Yes, for a while." Race said, lighting a cigar.

Kloppman nodded. "That's fine. That's fine. But they will need to sign in." He gestured towards a large book. "Please put you're name on that list. If you can't write, make an x." The girls stepped over to the sign in book, and signed their names in their own bubbly signatures. The boys watched, impressed by their handwriting.

Race nodded. "Alright, let's get you all settled in." He bounded up an old wooden staircase, closely followed by the others. Jack pushed open a door and led the girls into what looked like some sort of dormitory. Rows and rows of bunk beds lined either side of the walls. A huge washroom was off to the right. About twenty or so teenage boys were in the room playing cards, arm wrestling, napping, or just hanging out. They all stopped dead when they saw the four boys come in with the girls. A few catcalls and whistles were made.

"Ey, Jack. Who's ya friends there?" asked a kid with a crutch.

"Alright! Everybody listen up, cause I'm only gonna say this once!" Jack yelled to the room. "This is Kylie, Ella, Izzy, Julie, Zoe, Avery, and Sophie. They'll be stayin' with us for a while, so no funny business, ya got that?"

The boys nodded. Behind them, a boy with a pink shirt holding a baseball in one hand, and a younger boy with a cigar in his mouth entered the room. They both stopped dead when they saw the girls standing there.

"Whoa, pretty girls at twelve o'clock." The older one said, smiling at the girls. Sophie looked away and blushed.

The younger one rolled up his sleeve to reveal a watch. "I'd say more like eleven thirty, eleven twenty-five, eleven-" The older boy swatted his arm away.

"This is why you'll end up livin' alone with a cat." He said, shoving the baseball in the younger boy's hands. He walked casually over to Sophie. "Hey beautiful,"

She turned around to face him, smiling slightly.

"I don't always smell like this," he continued, then with another thought. "Unless ya like it." He said seriously.

She rolled her eyes and held out her hand, which he shook. "Sorry, my name is Sophie."

Jack walked over quickly. "Skittery, like the dessert card at the Plaza Hotel, she's off limits. They all are."

The boy with a cigar in his mouth laughed. "Well, Skitts, that's one girl you're not gonna get."

"Snipeshooter." Izzy whispered to Ella.

Skittery picked up a pillow. "And I'm not going to throw this pillow at ya, either." Then, he chucked the pillow at the boy, who ducked.

Sophie laughed and waved at Skittery, he waved back. Skittery turned to the boy who ducked. "Look, she's smiling at me!"

The boy smirked and tossed the pillow back. "Because ya missed."

Skittery rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Jack clapped his hands and turned to the girls. "Okay, now. I'm Jack, or Cowboy, and I'm the leader of the Manhattan newsies. The guy with the eyepatch is Kid Blink, you'se can call 'em Blink. The one with the crutch is Crutchy. The smaller ones are Tumbler, Snipeshooter, and Boots. Specs and Dutchy have the glasses. That's Snoddy and Bumlets over there. This here is Racetrack or Race and Mush. Here's Pie Eater and Snitch. You've met Skittery, and that's Itey. And that's Swifty. And you've already met Spot Conlon at the park."

The girls nodded, even though they knew everyone's name already. "If youse girls are gonna by stayin' with us, youse gonna need a newsie nickname."

The girls grinned. "Cool." Ella said, smiling.

"Cool? Is it cold in here or something?" Race asked, confused. Ella realized she was causing ripples in the fabric of time.

"I've said too much." She whispered.

"Okay, what kind of names?" Kylie asked.

The boys all looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, what makes you unique?" Mush asked.

Avery shrugged. "I like to run."

Jack snapped his fingers. "How about Dash?"

Avery grinned. "Dash will work."

Mush looked over at Izzy, who was smiling. "How about Smiles, since you're always smiling."

Izzy smiled even wider. "Kay-kay!"

Blink studies Julie. "Blondie?"

Julie laughed. "I like it."

Race took a drag from his cigar, looking at Ella. "I don't know why, but Bubbles."

Ella smirked. "Love it."

Skittery looked over a Sophie. "Your eyes are so pretty, they glitter. So, I like Glitter, it fits you."

Sophie blushed. "Thanks."

Jack turned to Zoe. "You're kinda shy, and I think Wonder would be good for you."

Zoe smiled. "I like."

Kylie stood there, her eyebrows raised.

"You're a tough one." Race said. "How about Strong Girl."

"No." Kylie said, blankly.

"Princess?" Blink tried.

"Nope." Kylie wasn't that amused.

"Mental Chick!" Skittery said from across the room. Kylie turned to him. "What?" He asked, innocently.

"Shortie?" Jack asked.

"Nah." Kylie said.

-Thirty Seven Nicknames Later-

"Girl Who Can't Make Up Her Mind When Newsies Try To Give Her A Nickname?" Asked Mush.

"Try fitting that one on a name tag." Kylie answered.

"Well, how about Cat? Since your sassy." Race huffed.

"Not bad. I like Cat." Kylie smirked.

"And I like my bunk bed. Good night." Race said, flopping down on the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Blink walked over to his bunk as well. "Well, Jack, you can show them to their bunks. You're usually good at that." He said, yawning.

Jack crossed his arms. "Thanks Blink."

"Anytime." Blink mumbled through a closed eye.

Jack led the girls out of the room. Directly across from the bunk room, was another room, identical to the first, except with less bunks. This door, he opened, and the girls walked in. The floor was old, and creaked and the walls had blue, peeling wall paper, but it would work. "It's not much, but there are no other bunk rooms besides these two, so I'm sure you girls don't mind sleeping in here." He said.

"It's kinda cold in here," Sophie stated, shivering. There was a small window on the wall facing the fire escape, and it was open.

Jack looked towards the window. "Oh, yeah, and the window is kinda stuck, so, uh, you know... sorry."

Avery shrugged. "We'll make it work, no worries."

Sophie crossed her arms, and Avery poked her.

"So, um, the washroom is through that door and on the other side is the other bunk room. We get up at six o'clock every morning, so if you want, you can sell papers with us."

The girls smiled. "Sounds good." Ella said.

Jack smiled at them, nodded, and back towards the door. "Goodnight." And with that he left.

Once he had left, the girls silent screamed. "I can't believe this is happening!" Izzy yell whispered.

"I know right? This is like the Twilight Zone or something." Julie agreed.

"We are going to be newsies! The kids back home are never gonna believe me." Zoe cheered. "But, do ya think the strike is over?"

"I don't know, it's too early to tell." Avery said. "Maybe if we ask them a random question about the strike, we'll find out."

Sophie scrunched her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Like, if we ask them how the strike went, and they're completely clueless as to what we're talking about, then we'll know." Avery finished, sitting on a bunk.

"Haha, we should do that just to creep them out." Kylie laughed, climbing to a top bunk.

"I don't wanna go, but someone else can." Ella said, holding up her hands.

"I'll do it!" Izzy called. Everyone laughed.

"Okay, Iz, good luck." Julie laughed.

Izzy grinned and skipped out into the washroom, and into the boys' room. They all looked up, and smiled upon seeing her.

"Oh, hey Smiles. Need anything?" Mush asked, getting up and walking over to her.

Race, whom everyone thought was asleep, spoke. "Yeah, like a bedtime story," Mush through his pillow at him. It hit Race in the face, causing him to open his eyes.

Race smirked. "Yay, now I have two pillows." He said, before lying down again.

Mush rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Izzy. Izzy smiled, amused. "No, nothing. I was just wondering if during King of New York, you scared the shit out of everyone else in Tibby's with you. You know, with the whole singing and dancing with no identifiable music source thing?"

Everyone stared at her blankly. Noting their clueless faces, she shrugged and nodded. "That's all I need to know." And with that she patted Mush's head like he was a kindergartener, and left.

After she had gone, the boys were still clueless as to what she had said. "What the hell?" Skittery asked.

Bumlets shrugged. "Maybe it's a monthly thing."

When Izzy got back, she told the girls what happened and the boys' reactions. They all cracked up. "Poor kids. They're probably scared now." Zoe said, laughing.

Just then, their door opened. In came Kloppman, holding a bundle of clothes. "Sorry to disturb you ladies, but the boys felt that skirts aren't the best things to sell papers with, so they gave you some of their old clothes." He held up a card and read from it. "And they hope you sleep well." He said, reading the cue card. He set the clothes down on a bunk, and left. The girls got up and walked over to Zoe's bunk, where the clothes were.

Each girl was given a pair of jeans, a worn shirt, and a cabbie hat. Before each clothing article was a name written on a small piece of paper with a boy's name on it. "These must be who the clothes belonged to." Avery said. She took Jack's, Sophie took Skittery's, Ella took Racetrack's, Izzy took Mush's, Julie took Blink's, Zoe took Snipeshooter's, and Kylie took Boot's.

After they had claimed their bunks, they all got under their thin blankets and closed their eyes, so they wouldn't be tired tomorrow. But it was hard to sleep with the snow coming in through the window.

Julie got up, wrapping a blanket around her skirt and blouse, and walked over to the window. She tried shutting it several times, but it wouldn't budge. She crept over to Ella's bunk and shook her. "Ella, Ella. Wake up!" She whispered.

Ella opened one eye. "Julie, I'm not freaking dumb. I know it's not six o'clock yet."

Julie rolled her eyes. "No, I need something I can stuff in the window. The snow's coming in."

Ella rolled over.

"Ella, please." Julie begged.

Ella sat up and dug around for something on the ground. She handed Julie a worn shirt. Julie looked at the shirt. "I can't stuff Blink's shirt in the window!"

Ella glared at her. "Well I'm not giving you Racetrack's."

Julie rolled her eyes and walked over to the window, stuffing her pillow in the window instead. It worked for a while. She smiled and jumped back in her bunk. Just as she was starting to fall asleep, the door opened and Kloppman came in.

"Time to get up, girls! The presses are rolling!" he yelled, walking out of the room.

Julie groaned. "I think I'm going to kill myself."

"Sell the papers first, Blondie." Kloppman called from out in the hall.

Julie rolled her eyes.

In the boys room, Racetrack had just noticed his cigar was missing. He leaned over to Snipeshooter's bunk. "That's my cigar!" He sang.

Snipshooter smirked. "You'll steal another."

Blink broke the fight that was beginning. "Hey bummers, we got-"

"SHUT UP!" Julie yelled from the girls' bunk room.

The boys looked confused yet again. Mush walked over to Jack. "Uh, hey Jack. Should we continue, or get ready in silence?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know, this doesn't normally happen."

Avery sat up. "Julie! They were singing Carrying the Banner to take their minds off of the hard labor they would be doing in several minutes."

Julie shrugged. "Sorry, I had a sleepless night."

The girls quickly changed and headed down the stairs where the boys were waiting.

Racetrack lit a cigar. "You're up early." He said, sarcastically to the girls.

Skittery nodded. "There is a rent ya have to pay at the end of every week-"

Jack shook his head. "Oh don't worry about that. You girls can stay for free."

The girls smiled.

Racetrack took out his cigar. "Hey! That ain't fair! How come we gotta pay?"

Jack turned to him. "Race, when you dress in a skirt, and get a girly face, and a soft voice, come back and talk to me."

Race shook his head as he and the rest of them walked out of the Lodging House. "What do they got that we don't have?" He asked Mush, pointing to the girls.

Mush thought. "Lives."

"Skirts." Blink added.

Skittery shrugged. "Boobs."

And with that, the group walked to the circulation desk, with no musical number to accompany them.


	6. Chapter 6

Once the group had reached the distribution center, Jack turned to the girls, who were, more or less, jumping up and down in complete fan-girlness.

The boys filed into some unorganized single file line to buy their papers. Kylie leaned in towards her friends.

"Okay, act new at selling papers." she whispered.

The others nodded. Jack smiled, not hearing what they had said. "So this is where we get the morning's papers. It's called the distribution center, and over there is the circulation desk. I'd start out with about fifteen papers, since you're new on the job. I, personally, get one hundred, but whose counting?" He laughed brightly. Avery almost fainted. He smiled at her impressed reaction.

"Here are some coins for you to buy your papers with. That should about cover it." He said, handing each girl five cents. The girls clenched the coins tightly in their hands. The air was bitterly cold, and the newsies didn't have a Walmart or Target to buy proper winter attire from, so there ya go.

"What are papers?" Zoe asked, trying to go with what Kylie had said. The girls face palmed, and Jack's mouth twitched in an 'o' shape. He raised his eyebrows.

Kylie leaned into Zoe. "I said new, not stupid!" She whispered. Zoe shrugged.

Jack half-smiled. "Uh, um, okay. Yeah, we're gonna move on." He directed them in line. The other newsies had already gotten their papers, and waited by the stairs. The ground was slippery from the ice. Avery slipped back, but didn't hit the ground.

"Just testing gravity." She laughed.

The voice above her laughed, as he pulled her up. "It's alright. I got ya." She turned around to see Jack. He smiled. "And for the record, gravity is working fine, otherwise, I wouldn'ta caught ya."

She smiled. "Thanks for having my back, Jack."

He nodded.

Next in line was Sophie. She tried not to burst out laughing when Mr. Wiesel came to the counter. "Yeah, yeah. How many?" He asked without looking up.

Sophie grinned. "Fifteen papers, please." She said, sweetly.

Mr. Wiesel looked up, hearing her voice. He looked at her, then at Jack, then at her, then at Jack. "Jack, are you going coed or something? I mean, is this even legal?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Jack rolled his eyes.

An older man, Wiesel's assistant (**Not the Delancey Brothers)**, came to the window. "Are girls allowed to sell papes?" He asked Wiesel.

Wiesel shrugged. "I don't know."

The man crossed his arms. "I won't tell if you won't."

Wiesel nodded. "Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear."

"Alright. Here's your papes. Next!"

After all the girls bought their papers, the boys led them to the main street, teaching them all about lying about headlines, and such. The girls pretended to learn this for the first time. Jack went into his whole "Newsies sell headlines.." speech and the girls zoned out for most of it, because they're too distracted by their newsies beautiful faces and perfect voices to listen to a word he says.

"So if you do that, you should be fine." He says, after a few minutes pass. The girls are jolted back to attention. The girls quickly nod their heads in agreement.

Jack looked at Avery and smiled. "So, Dash. Ya wanna learn from the best?" She grinned.

"Sure." She said, and they walked off towards uptown to sell their papers.

Skittery coughed a bit. When Sophie didn't notice, he coughed louder. Race patted his back. "Yeah, hay fever is the worst."

Skittery glared at him. "What?" Race asked.

Sophie finally got the message. "Heya, Skitts. Wanna sell together?" She asked.

He shrugged, smirking to himself, and silently rejoicing. "Oh, since you asked... why not?" She playfully punched him in the arm.

Blink approached Julie. "Blondie, ya wanna sell in Madison Square Garden?" Julie smiled.

"Sounds great."

Ella marched up to Race. "You. Me. Selling. Now." She said.

Race lit a cigar. "You like to bet?"

Ella nodded.

"Love you, let's go." He said, pulling her to Sheepshead Bay.

Bumlets and Zoe walked off to a selling spot, as did Kylie and Crutchy.

Mush shyly, but politely, asked Izzy to sell with him. "Hey, uh, Izzy. Would you like-"

"Yes! Let's go, boy!" She yelled, pulling him to Central Park. He smiled.

"Okay then, girl." He laughed.

And with that, they set off to their various selling spots.


	7. Chapter 7

-At Sheepshead Bay-

Racetrack led Ella to Sheepshead Bay, which was pretty far away, considering the fact that they had to walk. The whole way there, Race couldn't shut up about the horse races. Ella patiently let him shoot off his face about the bets and the odds and blah blah blah, but mostly she zoned out.

"So what do you know about horse races?" Race asked her, as they neared the racing grounds.

"Uh, well, good question." Ella started. She knew nothing. "I know for a fact that the tiny people who ride the horses are called jockeys, and the animals they ride are called horses. So, yeah, there you go."

Race stared at her blankly. "Very good."

Ella shrugged. "I went to school."

Race shook his head. "Did you listen to a word I said earlier?"

Ella shook her head. "With all due respect, no."

Race laughed lightly. "I like you, kid."

Ella smirked. "Most people do,"

They walked over to the stands where a bunch of well-dressed men were betting on horses. "Now normally I would bet too, but since I'm a nice guy, I'll help you sell papers." Race said, looking around the stands.

Ella raised her eyebrows. "I'm flattered." She said, dryly.

"Naturally." Race smirked. "Okay, now. Look for an innocent person that we can pity manipulate into buying a paper with a fake headline which really contains bad news."

Ella looked at him.

Race frowned. "That sounded a lot better inside my head."

Ella nodded. "Ooh! How about that lady, she looks pretty defenseless." She said, pointing to an elderly lady with a cane. She picked up a newspaper. "Prepare to be amazed." she said to Race, who crossed his arms.

Ella walked over to the lady. "Hey, lady. Would you like to buy a paper? It's only a penny."

The old lady swatted her cane at Ella, who flinched. Ella looked furious. "What the hell? Why are you so grumpy, you-" Racetrack clamped a hand around her mouth.

"Sorry, miss. I apologize for, well, her." he said, as he dragged Ella away.

Once they were a safe distance away, Race let her go. He was laughing slightly. "Just out of curiosity, what was supposed to happen?"

Ella rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll do it your way." She stormed up to a random guy, Racetrack behind her. "Excuse me, sir. Would you like to buy a stupid piece of newspaper that has no good information in it what so ever and the ink will leave a stain on your hands? You wouldn't, would you. And I can't say I'd blame ya." She said, as the man walked away. She turned to Race. "See, your way doesn't work either." She said, as Race face palmed.

-In Uptown-

Avery and Jack navigated through the quite streets of uptown Manhattan.

"We need to use strategy." Jack said, as they walked along the sidewalk.

"Um, yeah, sure. What kind of strategy?" Avery asked.

Jack thought, and studied her a moment. Then he grinned. "Pity."

Avery looked confused. "Pity? What the?"

Jack explained. "We need to find someone who looks gullible, and then we use our secret weapon."

Avery smiled. "What's our secret weapon?"

"You." Jack said, looking around.

Avery frowned. "Now wait a minute, Jack. I'm not going to get into trouble, right?"

Jack laughed. "God, no. I'se got your back."

Avery nodded slowly. "Uh-huh."

Jack smiled. "Don't worry. Okay, we need to find you a dress."

-2 minutes later-

"Jack, are you sure this'll work?" Avery asked.

"Um, yeah." Then more to himself. "I think."

Avery looked down at the pink sun dress she had on over her rolled up jeans and shirt. A white bonnet covered her hair, and her hair hung long down her shoulders.

Jack nodded. "Alright, now go knock on that door. Don't let them know you're a newsie, cause people don't take kindly to girls being newsies. Just pretend your only hope is to exchange this paper for some money to buy food." He pointed to a large Victorian home.

Avery looked confused. "Isn't that what newsies do anyway?"

Jack shrugged. "More or less."

Avery turned to go.

"Wait!" Jack said, pulling her arm.

Avery hoped he had changed his mind. "Yeah?" She asked.

"Avery, remember... don't forget to smile."

Avery rolled her eyes, and plastered on a fake smile. Through her teeth, she mumbled, "Why do I gotta wear this dress?"

Jack smiled. "'Cause it makes you look so pretty."

Avery hesitantly knocked on the door. The huge door opened, and a woman dressed in an elegant dress appeared.

Avery gulped. "Um, why hello miss."

The woman looked surprised. "Hello, child." She bent slightly down to Avery's level. "My word, what are you doing out in this cold weather?"

Avery shrugged. "Just taking a walk."

The woman looked shocked. "Goodness! Well, what can I do for you?"

Avery looked to Jack, who gave a thumbs up. She rolled her eyes. "Well, I was hoping to trade in this newspaper I bought for some money to buy food."

"Oh, no." The woman shook her head, pitifully. "Well you'd best come on in then. Come in, come in."

Avery hesitantly stepped in the warm house. The woman led her into a parlor. "That's a pretty dress. A girl across the street has a print just like it."

Avery scratched her neck nervously. "Um, it's a popular print."

"Well, you look wonderful in it, dear."

While the woman had her back turned, Avery put two coins from a nearby table into her pocket.

The woman turned. "So, what's your name?"

Avery decided not to tell her her newsie name. "Um, my name... is Selena... Gomez." Then to herself. "Selena Gomez, I can remember that."

The woman smiled. Then she started to talk and talk about random crap until Avery wanted to kill her. So, she decided to 'take advantage' of the situation and grab any loose change she saw and stuff it in her pockets, so if the lady didn't buy a paper, it wouldn't be a total loss. Pretty soon, the lady started to talk about the newsies.

"I was pretty sure you were one of those newsies who try to manipulate people into buying their papers by using pity when I answered the door."

Avery laughed nervously. "Well, that's definitely not me. Nope, no way."

The lady nodded. "I can see that. Those newsies don't make a lot selling their papers, you know, and they'll try anything."

Avery shrugged. "Well, that's sad. Cause I heard newsboys were very sweet."

The lady scrunched up her eyebrows. "That isn't what I heard."

Avery frowned and got back to collecting change while the lady wasn't looking. "So what do you know about them?"

The lady shrugged. "Warden Snyder of the Children's Refuge seems to think one of his wards escaped and is now a newsie. Jack something."

Avery looked up. "Jack?!" She shouted. The lady looked at her funny. "I mean, Jack?"

Avery saw that it was time to leave. "Well, uh, I best be heading back on the streets now."

The lady plopped Avery down on the sofa. "Uh, not until you've had some rest. What was your last name, child?"

Avery thought. Had she said Gomez or Olsen? "Um, Montana. Hannah Montana."

The lady looked sternly at her. "Funny. Before you had said Selena Gomez."

"Did I? I meant Gomez. I thought you wanted to know my favorite state. Which is Montana. And my aunt Hanna lives in Montana, but she sometimes visits the city. It's the best of both worlds." She face palmed.

The lady looked suspiciously at her. "Did you say you wanted a penny?"

Avery nodded.

The lady pulled one from her purse. "Open up your hands."

Avery did as she said, a little confused. The lady was about to place the penny in, when she stopped.

"Your hands are very ink stained." The lady said.

Avery looked at her hands. Oops. She had forgotten. "Um, I happen to have a very severe case of ink-stained-itous?" She tried.

The lady frowned, and her face boiled with anger. "You are a newsie!"

Avery stood up and backed up towards the door. "How you do tease a simple city girl so."

The woman grabbed her by her shoulders and began to shake her. "If you were a factory girl or something else, your hands wouldn't be stained with ink! Now you tell me, are there more of you! Who are you?!" She shook Avery so violently, that the coins fell out of her pockets. The woman looked at the fallen money. She slapped Avery hard. "You little thief! You tell me who are you?!"

Avery did the only thing she could think of. She spit in the woman's face and ran like hell out the door. When Jack saw her running, he grabbed her. "What happened?" He asked, slightly laughing.

Avery glared at him. "You're turn, sweetie."


	8. Chapter 8

-At Madison Square Garden

Blink turned to Julie and smiled. "Okay, so to sell a headline you must lie."

"Do you have to say 'must?'" Julie giggled.

"Yes I must."

"Okay, so what do we first?" Julie looked questioningly at the papers.

Blink smiled. "We lie!"

*Silence as onlookers look at the two questioningly*

"I may have said that loudly." Blink said, quieter.

"A little." Julie smirked.

Blink shook his head. "Watch closely." He walked over to a group of people and yelled. "EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! FACTORY FIRE! MILLIONS DIE!" Five people ran over to him, paying a penny, and bought a paper. He smiled triumphantly. "You got it?" He asked Julie. Julie shrugged.

"How hard could it be?" She walked over to a second group of people. "Um, Extra! Extra! Brooklyn Bridge, uh, burns down! This is totally true, by the way!" The people stared at her, and slowly backed away.

Blink walked over to her and clamped a hand on her back. "You might wanna take in your surroundings before you lie through your teeth." Julie looked at him confused. He pointed to the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance. "It's, uh, it's still there, Julie."

Julie rolled her eyes. "This is SO hard!"

Blink laughed. "Hey, come on! You'll get better, promise. Now try this headline." He whispered something to her. She smiled and nodded, as she walked over to a group of women.

"EXTRA! EXTRA! MAN FOUND DEAD IN HIS APARTMENT! POLICE SUSPECT FOUL PLAY!" Julie yelled. Three people bought a paper. "Wow, it worked." She said to Blink, surprised.

"Yeah, considering the fact that I gave you that one. Don't worry, that was a freebie, but try to make up some of your own."

Julie nodded and held up another paper. "EXTRA! EXTRA! JUSTIN BEIBER CONCERT SOLD OUT! THOUSANDS OF GIRLS STORM BACKSTAGE!" She covered her mouth with her hand. She's causing ripples in time!

People stared at her suspiciously. Blink cocked an eyebrow. "Wha?"

Julie merely shrugged. "Don't fight the Biebs. Okay, you don't know the Biebs."

-At Central Park-

Mush handed Izzy her papers. He smiled sweetly at her. "Do you want me to show you how to hawk a headline, or do you think you can do it?"

Izzy laughed, and patted Mush on the head. "Oh, kid. You think I can't handle it! That's adorable. I'm gonna go sock the money out of these suckers and you just keep being your cute self, kay?"

Mush nodded. "Kay." He was too polite to protest.

"Alright." Izzy smiled. She ran over to a random guy in a nice suit, and batted her eyelashes, smiling sweetly. If it was one thing she had learned from the newsies fanfictions, it was that the girl newsies were good at selling to guys. "Hi," she said flirtatiously.

The guy smiled at her. "Good day, miss. What is your name?"

Izzy made up a name. "My name is Nikki Minaj."

She rolled her eyes, she didn't have time for his wealthy intro crap. "Would you like to buy a paper? It's my last one, and I need the money to buy hair ribbons and mascara." She straightened, revealing her ample cleavage.

The man's eyes widened slightly, and Mush almost fainted. "Of course, miss Minaj." The man said, pulling out a dollar. Izzy gave him the paper.

"But wait, this is a dollar, and a paper is only-"

Mush cut her off. "Nikki Minaj has to go!" He pulled her away from the man before she could say anything else. He grinned at her. "You're really good."

Izzy tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Ya either got it or ya don't."

-At Tibby's-

Once the newsies were done, they headed to Tibby's for lunch. Jack looked to Race and Ella. "So how was selling today."

Race rolled his eyes. "Well, let's see. First, I didn't get to bet ANYTHING! Second, Ella was lousy at selling. And third... wait, no, that's it."

Ella crossed her arms. "What?"

Race sighed. "I mean, you'll get better, Bubbles."

She smiled. "Thank you, Racetrack."

Race stifled a smile, and turned to Jack. "What about you and Avery?"

Jack tried to keep from laughing. Avery rolled her eyes. "Next time, you're dressing up as the innocent, pitiful, girl. I'm serious, Kelly!"

Jack nodded. "Okay! Okay!"

Skittery and Sophie walked in, hand in hand. Race raised his eyebrows. "Wow, your gone six hours and you miss a lot."

Sophie grinned. "Skittery and I are now an official couple!"

Skittery smiled. "We're going steady."

Avery laughed. "Steady? What are you, Grandpa?"

Blink and Julie took their seats. "No, you're a better seller." Blink was saying.

"No, you are." Julie smiled.

"You are."

"You are."

"WE ALL ARE!" Jack yelled, getting annoyed.

Julie turned to face him. "No we're not."

Jack rolled his eyes, and Avery shot Julie a death look.

Crutchy and Kylie hobbled in. "You... you hit me so hard," he manages between tears.

"I'm sorry, Crutchy. It was an accident." Kylie says.

Crutchy cheers up when he hears her apology. "Even though, my arm still stings," he says. "My feelings don't hurt anymore. And feelings are what matter."

Kylie rolls her eyes. Where is Spot when you need him? Zoe and Bumlets have joined them, as well as all the other newsies. "Where's Mush and Izzy?" Dutchy asks.

Avery points. "I'm looking at them."

Across the table are Mush and Izzy, making out.

Race bursts out laughing. "Hahaha! Mushy loves Izzy!"

Without breaking away, Mush pulls his hat off his head and throws it at Race. Race ducks and a muffled noise is heard.

"Ouch." All heads turn. And there stands the Brooklyn leader himself.


	9. Chapter 9

Spot threw Mush's hat back at his face, breaking apart him and Izzy. Mush shot Spot a death glare. "Thanks, friend." He said sarcastically.

Spot nodded. "I'm here to help." He turned his attention back to the others.

Jack smiled. "So, whatcha doin' on this side of the bridge?" He put an arm around Avery, who instantly grinned.

Spot shrugged. "Ah, things were kinda slow in Brooklyn, and I had nothin' better to do."

Ella nodded understandingly. "Bored easily, Conlon?"

He nodded. "Yep."

Race shrugged. "Well, pull up a chair, oh great leader, and join us for lunch." He lit a cigar.

Spot dragged up a chair, ironically next to Kylie. Kylie was silently fangirl freaking out, but kept it cool. She nodded her head up as a 'hello.' "Nice cane." She said, noting his trademark cane through his belt loop.

He returned the head nod. "Thanks. Nice braid." He returned.

She looked down at her long auburn fishtail braid. "Thanks."

Sophie and Julie had to cover their mouths from smiling. Kylie rolled her eyes. Why did they have to be so immature?

Blink took a sip of his water and asked, "Brooklyn going to Manhattan for poker tonight?"

Spot thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "Yeah, probably. Either that, or we'd just listen to the nuns drag on about how 'God loves us,' and all that jazz. I flipped a coin."

Zoe nodded. "Good strategy."

"I like to think so." He leaned back in his chair. "How was sellin'?"

Everyone groaned. Avery shook her head. "Don't remind me."

Spot glared at Jack, smirking. "You take her to uptown?"

Jack smiled, nodding.

Spot raised his eyebrows. "Pity strategy?"

Jack nodded again, trying not to laugh.

Avery punched him lightly on the arm.

Spot shook his head. He turned to Avery, "Did ya wear a dress?"

Avery hardened her eyes and leaned her elbows on the table in defeat. "You guessed it."

He smirked and nodded to Jack. "Really, Jacky-boy?"

Jack shrugged and looked innocent. "What? It was a great plan."

Race nodded. "Uh-huh. Right up until she got thrown out of the lady's house."

Avery's eyes widened. "You heard about that?!"

Race held up his hands. "Jack told me everything so haunt him, sweetheart."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Okay, if we're all done here!"

Spot then sat up. "Oh, yeah. I don't know youse girls' names."

Jack extended a hand to each girl. "This is Dash. Smiles was the one who was previously swapping spit with Mush. Blondie is the one sitting by Blink. Bubbles is by Race, and Glitter and Skits are dating."

Sophie laughed. "True story."

Jack continued. "Wonder is sitting right here. And you know Cat from Central Park, she pitched to you."

Spot turned to Kylie. "Oh, yeah, I thought you looked familiar!" he said, pretending to be in shock.

Kylie returned the same fake recognition look to Spot. "Oh my God, you too!" she said sarcastically smirking.

He raised an eyebrow, amused. "Don't you know who I am?"

Kylie thought and thought just to aggravate him. Then her face lit up, her jaw dropped, and she pretended to be awed. "Ehmygawd! You're that guy from that borough with that slingshot and that accent and that smirk and…" she then resumed a blank face. "No, really, I seriously don't know who the hell you are."

His eyes stared blankly at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "Really."

Race muffled a laugh.

Spot sat dumbfounded. Every girl knew who he was. Every. Girl. Spot leaned in towards Race. "This is kinda an off day for me, this doesn't normally happen." He whispered at the side of his mouth.

Race nodded sympathetically. "It's okay. They're from 'out of town.' He made air quotes.

Kylie cleared her throat. "Still hear, guys."

Spot turned and smirked. "Not if I say you're not."

Kylie crossed her arms. "Very good, your highness. Shall I get your tea and crumpets for you now?"

Spot looked her up and down. "Why are you skirts even here?"

Ella shrugged. "We're newsies now."

Spot blinked. "But, you're girls."

Kylie patted his hand. "Yes, and this is a table, and that's napkin. Are we done with that?" she pointed to the table and napkin.

The corners of his mouth twitched and he just stared at her. His ocean blue eyes showed no expression. Kylie held the stare, equally silent. Everyone else at the table shifted nervously in their seats. They didn't know if Spot was angry or amused, he had the same expression for both. Someone coughed.

Spot held one last strong glare at Kylie, dead in the eyes. He dizzily pushed back in his chair, and stood. What was going on? At first the boys thought Spot was going to murder her. But something about his manner seemed strange, awkward even. He never broke his stare with Kylie, and vice versa.

He gave a head nod to her. "See ya tonight, Cat." He said, before heading outside into the cold.

Kylie wasn't sure whether to be scared or not. His voice wasn't cold or violent, but as if he were hesitant, which was never Spot Conlon's defining attribute. Oh well, she's find out tonight, she guessed. And then came another problem: She was lousy at poker.


	10. Chapter 10

Back at the Lodging House, the girls sat on their bunk beds, tired to pieces. The afternoon papers had gone slow and they had to get ready for tonight. Avery looked up from her bunk.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not playing 'Mary Sue' and getting all dressed up to impress anyone." She said, brushing her hair with a makeshift comb she made.

Zoe sat up. "Yeah, it's just poker. We don't need to make any trips to see Medda and then get transformed into a doll, right?" She tugged on her shirt sleeve. "I'd feel weird."

"Same." Added Sophie. "I don't think I even wanna meet Ann Magerette."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Then Ella sighed. "I can't wait to kick ass at poker." She smiled. "La, la, la, la…" she sang happily, a little possessed.

Izzy grinned. "I know, right?! Even though I don't know how to play, I can still sit next to Mush cause we are an official couple! Ha!" She grinned hysterically.

The girls backed away from her slowly.

Julie sighed. "Blink is so cute. I literally died today when he was showing me how to yell headlines."

Avery clapped. "Jack put his arm around me. I'm never washing these shoulders again."

Sophie laughed. "I'm so excited for tonight!" she yelled.

Avery sat up. "Oh, yeah! I forgot! Gotta go wash up." She headed to the washroom. The girls rolled their eyes.

Zoe groaned. "Unfair. Now I have to wait for the strike. And that's not until July, and it's December."

Ella patted her arm. "Your name starts with a 'z.'"

Zoe looked at her. "That doesn't help, Ella."

Ella shrugged and walked back to her bunk. "It was worth a try."

**(I Know it's REALLY short, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter. I'm thinking of making it interesting. Review if you like it!)**


	11. Chapter 11

Ella finished the braid she had spent an hour on and tossed it over her shoulder. She stared into the mirror, and tilted her head. Staring back at her was a small girl wearing ripped jeans, a thin shirt, and a braid. She shrugged, and walked out of the washroom.

Izzy nearly bumped into her. "Whoa, there Smiles." Ella said, walking around her.

Izzy gave a half-smile. "Going casual there, Bubbles?" She said, looking Ella up and down.

Ella returned the look. "As are you," she observed.

Izzy laughed and ducked into the washroom. Ella shook her head and sat down on her bunk. She laced up her dusty boots, which was pointless, she wasn't going anywhere, but she wasn't totally comfortable walking around this place barefoot. Julie then walked in and began wildly pacing across the floor.

Ella looked up. "Heya, Blondie." No response. "Hey!" Ella yelled a bit louder. Julie kept madly pacing. Ella rolled her eyes. "Are you preparing to walk, Julie, or are you fanning yourself?"

Julie stopped and gave her a look. Ella smirked. "What's up, kiddo?"

Julie sighed. "I don't know how I should wear my hair." She said, whining slightly.

Ella huffed. "On your head preferably. How about wearing it down?"

Julie bit her lip. "But, do you think that's too subtle?"

Ella rolled her eyes. "Julie! It's a poker game."

Julie looked as though she didn't hear her. She smiled. "Maybe I could do a Hunger Games side braid!" She squealed excitedly.

Ella gave her a blank glare. "Whatever you say, Katniss."

Julie giggled and ran to the washroom door. She turned and looked Ella up and down. "You might want to start getting ready."

Ella threw up her hands. "I AM READY!" she cried, and walked down the stairs.

Julie laughed, and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Izzy called.

"Izzy, it's just Julie."

Izzy opened the door with one hand, the other held up her cascading hair. "Make it quick, Julie. I'm in the middle of a hair crisis."

Julie pursed her lips and nodded. "You are?"

Izzy gave her a look.

Julie rushed over to the sink before Izzy could 'playfully' hit her. She picked up the comb and tried prying it through her hair that had mingled with sweat and snow since she had been out selling.

Zoe then entered the washroom with a look of bewilderment and horror. The two girls looked curiously at her. "What's up, Wonder?" Izzy asked.

Zoe shook her head. "I sold in Midtown today."

Julie looked confused. "So? I sold in Madison Square Garden and I turned out fine."

Zoe observed her tangled hair. Julie rolled her eyes.

Izzy turned back to Zoe. "Aren't most of the bad guys in Midtown and Queens in the fanfictions?"

Zoe shrugged. "I didn't stop to ask anyone."

Julie sighed. "So what happened?"

"The factory kids get out at 3:00 p.m."

The two newsgirls looked at her quizzically. "Yeah. So?" Izzy asked.

Zoe shuddered. "Let's just say that I had underwear on before I left the Lodging House."

Izzy looked really confused. "How did they-"

"I have no idea." Zoe answered.

Silence for the next five minutes. Then Zoe said, "Now I have to go change, cause I literally have ants in my pants." And she somewhat staggered off.

Izzy then finished a low ponytail. "Done!" she squealed, and dashed out of the washroom. Ella was just coming back up.

"I forgot my socks." She said, grabbing Race's small socks. She observed Izzy's perfect ponytail. "Ooh! Nice Job, Smiles!"

Izzy clapped. "I know!" Then she looked Ella up and down. "You might wanna go get ready."

Ella rolled her eyes. "I AM READY!" She yelled, pulling Izzy down the stairs.

Avery bumped into them half way up the stairs. "Looking good Izzy! Ella, go get ready."

Ella paused, and then shook her head. "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts," she muttered under her breath.

Avery shrugged and bounded up the stairs. Julie walked out of the bathroom, her hair in pigtails. "Cool bun, Dash." Julie observed Avery's high messy bun.

Avery nodded. "Jack did it."

Julie raised an eyebrow.

Avery shrugged. "He couldn't figure out how to do a braid."

Julie nodded slowly. "Right. Anyway, where are the others?"

Avery pointed. "Downstairs, Kloppman is telling them stories about his 'adventures in Ohio'."

Julie arched her eyebrows. "And that's entertainment because…"

Avery shrugged. "I don't know, everyone knows what he's saying isn't true."

Julie nodded and headed downstairs. Avery skipped into the washroom, and noticed Zoe. "Hey, Wonder! Did you change jeans?" She asked, as Zoe put on her jeans.

"No," Zoe answered simply. "Underwear."

Avery had a possible theory to that answer, but thought it was best to not ask. Zoe patted her on her head. "Later." And with that, she walked out.

Avery shook her head and stared in the mirror. She adjusted her shirt, turned to the side, gave a quick smile, and left.

Sophie ducked in after her. "Hey, Dash. Is everyone going casual?"

Avery nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Sophie shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't want to put on a dress."

Avery patted her on the shoulder. "Welcome to the 'It's tough being a girl when you travel to 1899 New York City and Newsies invite you to a poker game and you don't want to wear a dress' club. We've been expecting you." She smiled and walked out.

Sophie laughed, and adjusted her loose fitting jeans that had belonged to Skittery. Kylie then walked in, an unreadable expression painting her face. Upon seeing Sophie, she smiled. "Hey, Glitter, how's it rolling?"

Glimmer grinned at her. "Thinking about Spot there, Cat?"

Cat looked nervously at her in the mirror. "Why would you ask that?"

"Well, let's see. You obviously like him, your stealing his lines like 'how's it rolling', and because of what happened at lunch today." She summed it up. "That's why I ask."

Kylie shrugged and adjusted her two, long auburn braids. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just paranoid."

Sophie hugged her. "No. Spot works in mysterious ways, that's all."

Kylie broke away. "Please don't make him sound like Santa."

Sophie laughed. "All I'm saying is to just act like you're having fun. Guys can't resist girls who look like they're having a great time."

Kylie frowned. "But I'm terrible at Poker."

Sophie smirked. "Even better, he'll want to help you."

Kylie raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's probably going to end well: 'Hey Spot can you help me with my next turn? I just showed you my cards? You're asking for an ace because you know I have one? You win my five cents? Can we do a redo? What's that? You're busy winning? Oh, okay…'"

Sophie shook her head. "Hey, you can't hope to be successful unless you're willing to make mistakes."

"Okay! Stop talking like Ben Franklin!" Kylie covered her ears.

Sophie smiled. "See ya downstairs, Kylie. And remember, Brooklyn's never late." She turned and walked down the stairs.

Kylie stood alone in the washroom. She glared at her reflection. Her tow long braids under her cabbie hat, her dark wash jeans, and her grey shirt. Plain, but practical. Simple, but sensible. It would have to do.

Just then the front door opened out in the small sitting room. "It's Brooklyn!" Someone yelled from downstairs.

Kylie inhaled and then exhaled. It's show time. She gave one more look at herself in the mirror. "Never fear, Kylie's here!" she said softly, smiling. She decided she would see if Spot was mad at her or not. But just in case, she would make an effort to be extra subtle with her actions. God, why was she so nervous? She closed her eyes, and opened them. Then she walked down the stairs and into the main room…


	12. Chapter 12

**So what do you think? You like so far? Not liking it so far? Should I make Spot cold towards Kylie or soft? It's very tempting to make him have a sweet side. And David will show up soon enough. I'm thinking about twisting parts of the strike and adding a few new subplots of my own throughout their strike… we love subplots! I'm also thinking of giving Les a love interest, maybe a little factory girl or something for him to daydream over… but I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide. So give me your feedback via review (yes I said 'via'), and I will try to add your decisions to the story! I'll be updating soon! In the meantime: 'tic-toc.'**

**-Chloe Chamberleign**


	13. Chapter 13

Kylie casually walked down the creaky steps. Kloppman was still telling his "stories," and the newsies gathered around him looked utterly bored and uncomfortable. Spot and his Brooklyn boys stared blankly at Kloppman, obviously lost.

"And there I was," Kloppman was saying in his best pirate voice. "Waiting in the doctor's waiting room, my sprained thumb tucked carefully in a bandage. There was no more candy left for the patients, so I had to settle for a sticker-"

Spot coughed. "Um, as exciting as this is getting, can we just play poker now?" he asked, bored.

Kloppman glared at him and shook a menacing finger. "Shut up, sonny. This is my turf; I got the floor!"

Spot rolled his eyes.

"Anyway! There I was-"Kloppman began again.

The boys groaned.

But when Kylie stepped casually in, the attention was lifted to her. Only the Manhattan boys greeted her, Brooklyn had yet to meet her, except Spot that is. Spot merely lifted his gaze from his slingshot, which he was obsessively inspecting, to Kylie. Upon seeing her, he nodded, and then returned to his slingshot.

Kylie sighed and sat down next to Sophie, who gave her a sympathetic look. Jack then stood up.

"Oh, darn! I guess since Cat's here, we can play poker now, and we were really interested in your stories, but, you know… bye!" He and the other newsies ran upstairs to the bunkroom.

Kloppman stared lamely after them. "But you haven't heard the one about when I feed pigeons in Central Park! It gets exciting!" He called.

Mush whipped around. "I LOVE Central Park!" Mush smiled.

Izzy grabbed his hand. "Mush!"

Mush looked confused. "I hate Central Park?"

Izzy sighed. "It's a good thing you're adorable." She breathed before pulling him after the others.

Race began dealing the cards as everyone began to claim their spots on the floor.

Jack cracked his knuckles. "Okay, Race can't win every poker game, so I've got a shot at this."

"Like a drinking game?" Avery laughed.

Jack nodded. "It really should be."

There were a lot of people playing, and some of the younger ones who didn't know how watched in wonder.

"Kylie, are you in?" Ella asked.

Kylie thought, and then shook her head. "Um, no, I think I'm just going to watch."

Ella shook her head. "Okay."

Kylie sighed and tried to entertain herself by talking to some of the younger kids. She smiled at a little boy of about seven. He must have been an extra in the movie.

"Hi," she said, sweetly.

He blushed deep red. "Hi," the little boy squeaked and he hid behind Mush.

She didn't have any younger siblings, so she wasn't very good at talking to little kids.

Kylie sat on a nearby bunk bed and watched the game. No matter how hard she tried, she could not figure out the game.

Seven rounds later, Kylie felt her eyes begin to droop. She tried holding her eyelids open with her fingers. The room began to get dark, it must have been at least 10:30. Finally the familiar 'I fold' was heard and then the cheer of the winner, usually Race.

Sophie turned to Kylie and whispered. "You can't hide forever, Cat."

Kylie nodded.

Ella turned to her. "Last round, Cat. You in?"

Kylie was intently staring at Spot, who was staring his cards. She snapped out of thought. "What?"

Ella rolled her eyes. "I asked if you wanna play the last round."

Kylie looked back at Spot. "Um, no, I don't really think so. It's not really my kind of thing." Then she thought of what Sophie had said in the washroom earlier. "You know what? On second thought, it might be kinda fun."

Ella grinned and began dealing. Kylie sat down by Julie, who was sitting on Blink's lap. Next to Blink was Spot. Julie looked to Kylie, then to Spot. A wicked grin spread across her face. She turned to Blink. "I think I feel a draft coming in from over here, can we sit over there?" she asked, pointing.

Blink nodded and helped her up. She winked at Kylie who shot her dagger glares. Race rolled his eyes.

"Now there's a gap in the circle. Cat, scoot over next to Spot." He said impatiently.

Kylie looked at Racetrack, who in turn shrugged. "What did I do?"

Kylie shook her head, and sat there.

Spot smirked. "It's okay, Cat. I ain't gonna bite."

Kylie hated when people said that. She scooted over next to him, rather regretfully, and stared at her cards. She could feel him smirking next to her.

Everyone looked so concentrated on their cards, so Kylie pretended to be focused as well.

Race looked over at Ella and said casually. "You probably have a hand of aces and twos."

Ella smirked. "You probably say that to all the girls."

After twenty minutes of trying to figure out the game, Kylie started to give up. Luckily, since she had never played before, they said she didn't have to play with money. Ten people had folded. Five people. Eight people.

Soon it was only Ella, Race, Sophie, Spot, and Kylie left. Race was winning, but Spot was catching up. Then it was Kylie's turn to draw a card.

She inhaled and flipped one over from the deck. She stared at it in disbelief.

"Kylie?" Ella waved a hand in front of her face. "Kylie!"

Kylie looked up at the Sophie and Ella, a look of terror on her face.

Ella and Sophie gathered around her card. They looked at it, and then called Izzy, Julie, Zoe, and Avery over. They gasped.

"What's the matter?" Race asked. "I was just about to win."

Spot looked intently at Kylie, confused. He could sense something was wrong. "Everything okay?" he asked, trying not to sound too interested.

Kylie looked up at him and shook her head. He and Race looked over at the card. Race took the cigar out of his mouth. "What the hell? Where did this come from?" he asked, puzzled.

Written across the middle of the card, in what looked like black Sharpie, in bold letters was:

**Play By My Rules, And No One Gets Hurt. Game On, Girlies. Tic-Toc.**

**-The Game Creator**

**(A/N: It's short, but it was fun to write this chapter. Hopefully I made Spot cold, and not "sweet." But don't worry, I'll show his soft side when the time is right. I am thinking of also adding a little sister for Spot, and keep in mind that Kylie is not good with little kids. And I've gotten several name requests for Les' love interest. To name a few: Rebecca, Rosalli, Pirate, etc. I should be updating soon! Love you guys and thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Until the next chapter: Tic-toc!) **


	14. Chapter 14

Spot and Race looked quizzically at the card. "What does that mean?" Race asked.

The girls looked up from the card. "Um, nothing." Avery said quickly, putting the card in her jeans pocket.

Ella's face said otherwise. Race looked concerned. "Are you sure there's not something you're not telling us?"

"Yes, of course." Ella stuttered. Race raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly.

"Okay, then."

The girls walked over to a quiet corner to talk. Meanwhile, Race and Spot exchanged confused glares.

Kylie clenched her fists and stopped breathing for a minute. She looked around. All the other newsies, save Spot and Race, were preoccupied in their own games to notice the card.

What was going on?

Avery took out the card and stared at it. She tried to think reasonably. The girls had traveled back in time through a game board, but who was this "Game Creator?"

And… Play by my rules? No one gets hurt? Avery's hands shook. Julie stared at the Game Creator's signature. Laughter from the other newsies echoed through the bunkroom.

The girls had seen the Game Creator's signature one other time. It was written on the instruction sheet for the game.

The tic-toc game. Holy. Shit.

Sophie sat down on a nearby bunk. That whole moment had been a blur. After the poker game was finished, the boys began talking about random crap amongst each other, but none of the girls felt like talking. As if talking would untangle the jumble of feelings they had inside them. Kylie walked into the washroom and slipped her hands under the faucet water. She thought about the haunting message written on the card.

When Jack clapped his hands and said the younger ones needed to go to bed, she was too zoned out to notice. Standing in the washroom, she was pretty sure she washed her hands twice. Most of the older newsies were hanging around talking quietly while the younger kids fell asleep, but Kylie was too spaced out to join them.

The other six newsgirls said goodnight and hurried off to their bunkroom, still in a daze. Kylie hung around for a while longer, watching as the Brooklyn newsies began to climb down the fire escape, her expression blank and unreadable. Then she saw movement at the corner of her eye. A hand spun her around, and she flinched. She then found herself looking into the cold, stormy eyes of the Brooklyn leader himself. She almost stumbled backwards. His eyes screamed something she could not read. Then she looked closer. Concern. Wait, what? Concern? He was never concerned, for anyone. She looked down to his hand clasped tightly around her wrist. He smirked half-heartedly. "You're scared of me."

Kylie frantically shook her head. "No. Just a bit jumpy."

He raised an eyebrow. "You. Me. Outside. Now."

Kylie sighed. She climbed out the fire escape and looked around at the darkness. Some of the Brooklyn kids were already half-way across the bridge. Spot shut the window and turned toward her, pulling her down the fire escape and onto the empty streets. She thought about yelling for someone from Manhattan, but then she remembered. She was with Spot Conlon, she was safe, right?

"What is it?" Kylie tried to sound bright, but she felt uneasy. Maybe she should've asked one of the girls to come out there with her. She took in every detail of Spot's face, from his ice blue eyes to his smirking lips to the way the collar on his torn shirt couldn't settle right around his neck.

He shrugged and nodded. "I know there's something going on," Spot said, looking her straight in the eye. She felt somewhat intimidated, but didn't show it. "The way you girls reacted upon reading that message."

Kylie looked out into the misty streets suddenly wishing it wasn't so cold. "I'm fine," Kylie said. "I am. And why would you care anyway?"

Spot narrowed his eyes. "Why would you care that I care?!"

Kylie returned the annoyed glare. "Because you obviously care that I care that you care that I care!" She yelled.

Spot stepped back. "What?"

Kylie sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't know. I ran out of good comebacks."

"Clearly." Spot nodded.

"You're so self-centered, aren't you?!" Kylie sighed out of frustration. Why was she acting like this? Why was she getting Spot angry? Maybe the creepy message had gotten her paranoid.

"What the hell did you just call me?!" Spot grabbed Kylie's arm. Kylie flinched at first but then relaxed as she gained courage.

Kylie narrowed her eyes. "Now you're concerned about what I say?"

"I've always been concerned! You are clearly not okay!"

"Maybe you should stop." Kylie rolled her eyes.

Spot threw up his hands. "Why are you always so grumpy?"

Kylie crossed her arms. "I'm not grumpy, or crabby, or bitchy, or whatever else you're thinking, Conlon."

"Stop putting words in my mouth!" Spot yelled.

Kylie mock laughed. "Oh, so that's how you play? Things don't go your way so you throw a royal tantrum and expect me to apologize? I'll bet your Brooklyn newsies chase after you and beg for your forgiveness. 'Oh, Spot forgive me for not treating you like the king of all of Brooklyn like you think you are!' What a little ego-maniac!"

Spot raised his eyebrows and his eyes stormed over. "Oh, I'm an ego-maniac?! What about you, Cat?"

Kylie placed her hands on her hips. "Me?"

Spot got in her face. "Yeah, you. Since I met you at Central Park, I kept thinking about what a brat you were!"

"Really, so when you struck up a conversation with me twice at the diner, you were just thinking I was a brat?" Kylie glared at him. What was she doing?! "Oh, I pity your girlfriend."

"You wish you were my girlfriend."

Kylie's eyes widened. They stood with their faces inches apart. "I'd rather fall off the bridge."

Spot shook his head. "You know what? I'm confused."

"What?" Kylie asked, annoyed.

"Okay, when we were playing baseball, I thought you liked me."

Kylie smirked. "You thought wrong."

Spot furrowed his eyebrows. "But everybody likes me. How is it that you don't?"

"Probably because you only think everyone likes you."

Spot shrugged. "It's because I'm well-known."

"No, it's because you're feared, don't pretend you don't know that." Kylie rolled her eyes.

Spot looked blankly at her.

Kylie ran a hand through her hair. "You're only power is intimidation and alliances with other boroughs. You show up at any party you want, you get any girl you want. Everywhere you go, people cross the other way. Children tremble at the sound of your name. Every girl wants to date you. Every guy wants to be you. You have hundreds of newsies under your 'kingdom.' I bet you don't know the youngest one's name."

Spot smirked. "Yeah I do."

Kylie crossed her arms. "Fine, what's your youngest newsie named?"

"Um, Junior."

"You just made that up."

Spot rolled his eyes. "Well, my second in command knows everyone's name."

Kylie smirked. "See? That's not ordinary. You call your closest friend your 'second in command,' your king of your own borough and you have a new girl in your room every night. That's not normal, Conlon. And you're concerned for me?"

"Well, I, uh," Spot struggled.

Kylie smirked again. "That's what I thought."

Spot grabbed her by the shoulders. "Are you saying that I'm not normal? Cause I am."

Kylie fake-smiled. "Oh, wow. You sure showed me."

"Fine, what if I told you a secret about me that I've never told anyone else before?"

Kylie rolled her eyes. "You're really a secret spy from the 1990's sent to eat us all?"

Spot scrunched his eyebrows. "What? No."

"Then what, oh great leader? Are you going to try and win me over with one of your adventures that just keep up your ego?!"

"I'M NOT AN EGO-MANIAC!" He yelled.

Kylie nodded. "I'm done listening to you rant on and on. The good news is, you're on Manhattan territory, so I'm not the one who has to leave."

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm the one who dragged you out here, so you'll go when I say you can!" Spot fought back.

Kylie crossed her arms. "If we have it your way then there won't be much more to say!"

"Oh, so I guess you're going to blame me for you getting angry!"

"Yes, cause you're to blame!"

"Oh, cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it!"

"Before I'd get over it, you'd push me off!"

"You're such a spoiled brat!"

You're such a stuck-up jerk!"

"Do you wanna kiss me as much as I wanna kiss you?"

"I'm surprised a bold leader like yourself would have to ask!"

Spot reached for her. Kylie melted into his soft lips. Their mouths were open and she felt Spot's soft tongue. Kylie chest clenched up a bit surprised as Spot raked his hands through her long hair, then down to her shoulders, then her back. Kylie almost thought she was dead. She was kissing Spot Conlon. He had to be crazy, or she was. Someone was crazy. Spot stuck his hands under Kylie's loose grey shirt and pressed his hands flat against her belly. Kylie self-consciously flinched but then relaxed. This felt a million times different then kissing boys at her school back in 2012.

Spot's hands traveled up her body and felt all over her bra. Kylie shut her eyes. Spot's mouth tasted a tiny bit like cigarettes. Next, Spot kissed Kylie's neck then nose. They broke away.

"I hate you!" Kylie yelled.

"I hate you more!" Spot yelled back.

And then, of course, they melted back into each other's lips. After a few seconds they came up for air. They stared at each other in the dim light of the street lamps. It had gotten really dark now, and the snow was falling heavily. Kylie looked at the snow-covered ground. "I, uh, I gotta get back inside before Jack does whatever Jack does when someone's missing."

Spot gave a soft laugh. "I'll see ya around," Spot said, starting to walk towards the direction of the bridge. "Be good, kid."

Kylie grinned to herself. She began to walk back up the fire escape, when something caught her eye. Something in the snow. She reached her hand into the snow and pulled out what looked to be a piece of paper. She unfolded it with shivering hands, curiously.

**Kylie,**

**Spot was a hard one to get. But he always gets what he wants. And he got you, so small victories, sweetheart. But a little advice: keep your priorities in order – It's the rules of the game. Tic-toc, dollface.**

**-The Game Creator**

Kylie's heart started beating. She looked around the empty streets.

Who. The. Hell. Wrote. This?


	15. Chapter 15

Kylie's eyes looked from the note to around the empty streets. Spot was walking back towards the bridge. Suddenly, she heard a rustling noise behind two garbage cans. "Hello?" she called.

Kylie walked over to the alley and peered in. No one. The garbage can then knocked over, and she jumped back, screaming. She ran up the icy fire escape and over to the window. She pounded on the window that was locked.

Jack and Zoe opened the window, their eyes full of concern. "Cat, what happened?" Jack asked, pulling her in. Kylie's eyes shined with fear. She had dropped the note in the alley.

"I-I don't know," Kylie whispered. What _had _happened? Why was she so upset? Kylie wondered this to herself. Why couldn't she remember?

The next morning was an extra early one. The boys got up and got ready, and that's pretty much when the morning nightmare started.

"That's my cigar," Racetrack sang.

"You'll steal anudda," Snipeshooter replied.

"Hey bummahs, we got work to-"

"SHUT UP!" Julie yelled from the girl's room. Ella glared over at her.

"Julie!"

"What?" Julie asked, lying back down. "I'm not a morning person."

The girls got dressed, Ella got dressed first. She sat by the fire escape and lit a cigarette.

"You don't smoke," Izzy commented when she found her.

Ella glared at her. "Racetrack does," Izzy rolled her eyes at her friend.

Suddenly, a knock came at their door. Sophie and Julie dove for the bathroom so the boys wouldn't catch them at an awkward time.

Avery walked to the door as Ella put out her cigarette. "Coming," she called.

She opened it and there stood Jack. He stood there in a clean suit and a tight blue tie. Avery giggled when she saw him. That evening, both Manhattan and Brooklyn would be heading over to Queens for a party.

"Hi," he said, out of breath. He must have hurried to get ready. Avery laughed at his tie.

"What is this ridiculous thing?" She asked, pulling at the tie. "Come here," she laughed. Jack hated formal clothes.

"It's called a Windsor knot," Jack explained in his best British accent which wasn't very good. Avery smiled up at him.

"It looks like a noose," she corrected. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Medda wants me to wear it for the party tonight," he said as his Avery untied it.

"Oh my gosh," she laughed, slapping him playfully. "Stick with suspenders. It's what got you where you are."

He faked shock and they both laughed.

* * *

That evening, Spot waited outside the Manhattan Lodging House for Kylie. Izzy stood a few feet away, talking to him.

"I mean, don't get me wrong," Izzy was saying. "Kylie's a nice girl, but it's not like you're gonna marry her."

A thoughtful expression came over Spot's face. Izzy looked over at him, raising her eyebrows. "You're not gonna marry her, are you?" She knew he couldn't, for Kylie wasn't from this time.

Spot rolled his eyes, amused. "I haven't even figured out what I'm gonna do next week, never mind the rest of my life."

"Well, you better figure it out," Izzy said, leaning against a tree. "Cause I'm sure as shit Kylie has. And you can bet your ass Jack has some pretty strong opinions on the subject." She said menacingly at him.

Spot took a drag from his cigarette. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just how he doesn't want one of his newsies banging the big-bad wolf."

Spot laughed a little. "I'm not banging her, Smiles. I'm dating her - faithfully."

Izzy smirked and shrugged. "Alright, tonight when she's being surrounded by Queens newsies and you're slumming it in the back," she paused as Spot laughed in amusement. "I give you two hours before she finds some handsome young Queens newsie and you meet the entire factory of mill girls," she said.

Spot frowned. "Oh yeah? What about you and Mush?"

She smirked. "I wanna show you something." She pulled her hair to the side and showed him a necklace around her neck with an 'M' around it for Mush.

Spot nodded and put out his cigarette. "Subtle,"

She smiled, fire in her eyes. "Gotta love it, right?"

"So who wore it before you?" He asked, jokingly.

Izzy shook her head and went back inside. Mush walked out and joined Spot in waiting for the others.

"Hey, think fast!" Mush shouted, throwing a baseball at Spot. Spot looked up and with amazing relfexes he caught it.

"Nice throw," Spot said, throwing it back at full force to Mush. "For a girl," he added, jokingly, lighting another cigarette.

Mush rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Maybe I should take up a sport or something."

"I've got three words for you, Spot," a low voice said from behind them. Kloppman stood a few feet away. "Random smoking test," Kloppman motioned to the cigarette in Spot's fingers. He took sympathy to Spot, for he knew what kind of a man his father was. Spot shrugged and took another drag. "Little early for smoking, isn't it?" Kloppman asked him.

Spot put the cigarette out. Kloppman nodded approvingly. "Any new girls today, Spot?"

Spot ducked his head. "C'mon, you know I only like Kylie," he muttered.

Mush nodded. "True, pal. More like love Kylie."

Kloppman patted the boy on the shoulder. "You know, that girl likes you back." He said.

Suddenly, Izzy appeared again in a dress for the party. "Hey, Kloppman," she said to him.

Mush smirked and picked her up, spinning her around. Kloppman closed his eyes and shook his head.

Izzy looked over at him. "So can I go to the Queens party tonight?" She asked, batting her innocent eyes.

"God, I hope not," Kloppman answered, shaking his head. He then turned to Mush who was a little busy with Izzy. "Mush, do me a favor and keep things under control?"

"Yeah," Mush said absently.

Kloppman shook his head. "It would be really embarrassing to have to bail out any of you from the refuge,"

Mush turned to him with honest eyes while Izzy ruffled his hair. "Hey, we'll just talk and hang out. We'll dance with each other at the worst,"

Izzy smirked and giggled, kissing him. Spot looked a little uncomfortable and exchanged a glance with Kloppman. The others came out and Spot took Kylie's hand.

Avery pulled Kylie to the side. "Hey, Cat, can I talk to you for a sec?" she asked, a serious look in her eyes. Kylie nodded and told Spot not to wait for her. Spot kissed her before walking away. Once he was gone, Avery turned to her. "Did it ever occur to you that we're in a game board?"

Kylie frowned, not really understanding what she was getting at. Avery rolled her eyes. "Meaning, the game isn't over. We only had one turn."

Kylie's eyes widened upon realization. "Omigosh. You mean, the game could send us to another time?"

Avery looked teary eyed and nodded. Jack then walked over and put his arm around Avery's waist. "Hey, you okay?" he asked her. Avery nodded and exchanged a look with Kylie before walking away. Kylie bit her lip when she remembered Spot. What if she never saw him again?

Race suggested they all go to lunch, so they headed for Tibby's, which became the usual hangout. When they arrived, Julie was telling Avery something about this dead cat she saw, but she could barely pay attention because of the truth that was haunting her.

The newsies filed into a booth after pushing a table together and getting more chairs. Suddenly, a strangely familiar voice rang out from the front of the restaurant.

"Les, stop pulling on my arm! Why can't you just grow up?"

Zoe almost died. The girls turned, and there was David and little Les, seating themselves down at a table with their sister, Sarah. Of course, the newsies hadn't met him yet, but that didn't matter. Les was flying around a paper airplane, and it sailed and landed next to the newsies' table. Zoe picked it up and handed it back to Les. Les smiled up at her.

"Thank you, miss," he chirped. David looked over at her after collecting his brother.

"Les, stop bothering this girl." Then he turned to Zoe. "I'm sorry about him. Little brothers can be..." he stopped himself and smiled, holding out his hand. "I'm David Jacobs. And you?"

The other newsies were so deep in their conversation, they hadn't noticed the two talking. "Zoe LeFanteyn." she said, blushing at the plate in front of her.

David smiled. "Mind if I sit down?"

"But won't you be missed?"

David looked over at his sister and little brother who were arguing over something. "Not particularly."

Zoe giggled and he sat beside her. After a quick intruduction from the other newsies and girls, the group invited him to the party, which he said he had to ask his parents about.

"So what do you want for lunch?" Race asked Ella. "I'll pay for you," he offered sweetly.

"Um, I'm not sure," she answered, and then ushered Carson, their usual waitor, over. "Hey Carson,"

Carson smiled when he saw the newsies and took out a notepad and pen. "Hello, kids. Welcome to Tibby's."

"Whatcha got for specials today?" Mush asked, while Izzy put an arm around him.

Carson thought for a moment. "Let's see, we've got onion soup and our spring salad."

"Oh, I love spring salads!" Julie gushed.

"I'm not done!" Carson yelled at her sarcastically.

"Okay, sorry," Julie exchanged glances with the other newsies. "Go ahead,"

"Nah, just kidding. That's all for today, just onion soup and spring salad."

"I'll have the salad," Julie and Izzy said.

"Yeah, same," some of the others replied.

"I'll be right back," Carson smiled after writing several things down on his notepad.

"Hi!" Sophie said as she and Skitts walked in. "What did everybody order?"

Julie smirked. "Oh, the specials are salad, onion soup, -"

"Oooh spring salad!" Sophie said, sitting down one Skittery's lap.

"She's not done!" Blink shouted dramatically, mocking Carson. The newsies laughed.

Avery looked over at Sarah who was sitting with Les at another booth, wondering what happened to their brother. "Oh, hey," she whispered to Ella. "What if Jack falls in love with Sarah?"

Ella looked a little sad for her friend. "So, you think that little bo peep is competition?"

"Good point." Avery said, nodding.

Meanwhile, Kylie was still churning over the whole game board thing. Should she tell Spot? Maybe the newsies could help them find a way to make things work? Finally, she couldn't take it any more.

"Follow me," Kylie said a little too loudly to Spot.

Spot looked over at her from talking to Race. Spot looked concerned as she got up and left the restaurant.

Race nudged Spot. "She wants you to follow her."

Spot looked at everyone's confused expressions. "I know." he said, a little nervous.

Julie then started giggling.

"Spring salad, huh?" Blink asked.

Julie nodded. "It's still March,"

Spot walked out the door and met Kylie outside. Her eyes were red and swollen. She looked awful. "You look pretty," Spot said, trying to make her feel better.

"Don't lie to me," Kylie said in a monotone voice as she kicked at the curb.

Spot looked down at the sidewalk. "I'm sorry."

"Listen," Kylie began, her heart pounding. She should tell him the truth. "This is going to sound totally insane. But-" She was cut off when Jack came out and said the food was there. He saw her tears.

"Cat, what's wrong?" he asked. Jack had become like a brother to her, but she couldn't tell him either.

"Nothing," Kylie said as the three walked back in.

Spot took her hand and squeezed it. "We'll talk later," he said in a low tone.


	16. Chapter 16

After the party, the group began to walk back to their Lodging Houses. The newsies looked a little nervous.

"What's with the anxious faces?" Ella asked as they made their trip through the dark streets.

"Well," Race said. "The bulls don't really like us kids to be out after curfew. And they're known for taking kids who are wandering to the refuge."

The girls suddenly became nervous as well. "But, they'll let us go because we have a lodging house, right?" Julie asked. "And David actually has a house."

David looked terrified. "What's the refuge?"

"Refuge is jail for kids," Jack explained. "I've got a history with the warden,"

Avery nodded. "That sucks,"

Suddenly, Blink stopped and pointed toward the street corner. "Ah, shit," he muttered.

A group of policemen were chatting in a group, right in their path.

The group of newsies froze. "What do we do now, Jack?" Mush asked, grabbing Izzy's hand. One of the cops looked up and pointed to them, whispering something to the other officers.

"You!" the officer called. "You're out past curfew. And you all are obviously street children. I'm afraid you'll have to stay in the refuge tonight," The group of officers began to walk over to them.

Blink whispered to Jack, "So what's our plan?"

Jack looked around frantically. Then he pointed to Blink, Zoe, and Sophie. "You guys distract them...while I RUN!" And like that, he grabbed Avery's hand and ran. Mush and Blink and Julie took off after them, Zoe sprinting in the lead. Izzy and Sophie were grabbed by the same officer. Ella was scooped up as well. Race and Skittery were too shocked to move and were promptly arrested. David, well, being David, he was immediately grabbed for his lack of 'getting away from police tactics.' Kylie's hands were thrown in handcuffs. Spot knew he would have to risk getting caught to. But he had a plan.

Spot allowed himself to be arrested by one of the officers.

Kylie rolled her eyes. "My hero," she muttered sarcastically at Spot's lack of safety. She and the others mentioned above were thrown in the wagon. Izzy, Sophie, Ella, Kylie, Race, Skittery, Spot, and David were immediately taken to the refuge.

The officers threw open the door to the refuge. "The group of you stay quiet and don't cause any trouble," he barked.

"Why are we here?" Spot asked in a loud voice intentionally.

"We didn't do anything!" Sophie added.

"Shut up!" the officer yelled.

The group became quiet. The officer motioned for them to stand to the side as the warden walked in, which they did immediately.

"Please let me go," Kylie complained to the guard who was holding her. "All I want to do is go back to the lodging house,"

"Children!" the warden's personal guard yelled. "You all stand accused of wandering past curfew through the streets without any means of shelter. This trial will determine if you are innocent or-"

"Guilty!" the warden interrupted.

"Wait," Kylie said in a small voice. "I've never heard of this law!"

"Now wait a minute," Spot held his hand-cuffed hands up. "We are entitled to legal counsel."

"Very well," the warden said. He motioned for one of the officers to stand as their lawyer. Spot rolled his eyes.

"This is our lawyer?" Kylie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes!" the warden answered impatiently. "Now, Officer Tedesco, these hooligans have been deemed 'up to no good' by me. Do you think I am wrong?"

The officer shook his head quickly. "No, sir."

"Um, can we have a different lawyer?" Kylie asked, really getting on Warden Snyder's nerves.

"Two weeks in the refuge," the warden said in a bored tone.

"Two weeks?" David shrieked.

"Come on!" Spot complained.

"This isn't fair!" Sophie added.

"Our lawyer is working for you!" Kylie noted.

As the group began complaining and the guards were busy yelling at them, Spot looked around before quietly sneaking out the door. No one noticed his disappearance.

"Put the girls in dorm 14 and the boys in dorm 23," Was all the warden said when the police brought them in.

* * *

Kylie sat on one of the dormitory bunk beds with two tough looking girls playing cards.

"That's my bunk," one of the girls snarled at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just-"

The girl knocked her onto the ground.

Kylie stood up, angered. "That is not how we ask nicely!" she yelled.

"Careful," the other girl said to her friend. "I heard she's Spot Conlon's girl,"

The girl who knocked Kylie down looked nervous. "Oh, I am so sorry," she said, before taking her friend's arm and pulling them both away.

Kylie smirked. "Yeah, run faster!" she called. "Ow," she whined, gripping her shoulder which she had landed on when the girl pushed her.

"Kylie!" Izzy called and ran over to her.

"You've looked better," Ella said teasingly.

"Where's Spot?" Kylie asked in a worried tone.

Izzy shrugged. "I think he was put in a dorm with Skittery, Race, and David.

"So has anyone tried to beat you up?" Sophie asked in a concerned tone.

"No," Kylie said. "I've got some street cred in here for being Spot's mentally insane girlfriend,"

"You are," Izzy smiled.

Ella pointed to a tough girl who was known as Killer. "So you're telling me that horror movie is a girl?"

Killer, over hearing her, glared at her. "What did you say?"

Ella smirked. "I'm just saying what a stupid lady you are,"

Killer grabbed a pointy piece of wood and swung it at Ella. Ella didn't flinch. "Aw, you getting angry now?"

Kylie grabbed Ella's arm. "What are you doing?" She hissed through her teeth. A matron called Killer over, and Ella smirked.

"Hey, wait till we get out and we can get our nails done!" Ella called after her. Kylie and Sophie gasped.

"Must you annoy our inmates?!" Kylie screeched.

"Yes, I must," Ella said with a straight face. "Ew, the beds are gross!" she yelled, noting the spiders on her bunk.

Kylie nodded. "Not as gross as the prison food they make us eat here."

"Hey, O'Deel!" one of the girls called from the other side of the dormitory. Kylie turned and saw the same two girls who confronted her earlier. "Wanna play knives?" They both held sharp knives in their hands.

Kylie smiled brightly at them. "Yeah...sure..."

Izzy scrunched her eyebrows. "How do you play knives?"

"I don't know!" Kylie cried, nervousness in her voice as she followed the two girls.

* * *

Race and Skitts sat on one of the stone benches in the boys' dormitory. They watched nervously as Snyder beat one of the boys with a cane for speaking out of turn. Race was nervously rubbing his hands together, while Skittery just looked calm. "Skitts?" Race asked, terror in his voice.

Skittery didn't move. "Yeah."

"I'm kinda scared,"

Skittery moved his gaze from the warden's activity and looked around the room. "Um, uh," he punched Race playfully in the arm for reassurance. "We're gonna be okay,"

"But what if we don't get out of here? How are we supposed to-" His voice stopped and he looked up in panic. "What are those guys about to do?" he asked Skittery nervously, pointing to a group of tough boys in front of them. Must be from Brooklyn..

Skittery observed the scene and then concluded calmly, "I think they're going to throw knives at us,"

They looked at each other before bolting in opposite directions. "We told ya we didn't wanna play knives!" Race called as he hid behind a bunk bed.

* * *

"'Scuse, me, sir! Officer!" David called as he walked over to the officer standing by the door in the girls' dorm.

"What do you want?" the officer said in clear annoyance.

David sighed and gestured dramatically. "Why have I been put in the girls' dormitory? I'm clearly a boy!"

The officer smirked. "Prove it,"

David looked uncomfortable. "I'll stay in the girls' dorm," he said sadly, walking away. He walked back to Sophie, Izzy, Ella, and Kylie. "I will stay in the girls' dorm,"

Sophie looked horrified. She pointed hurriedly in front of them. "Um, huge, creepy girl coming!" she called.

Killer approached them, a look of disgust on her face. Kylie rolled her eyes and turned to Ella. "Lovely. It's the one you called a horror movie the other day!"

"Please, I'm not afraid of this girl," Ella said, stepping forward and crossing her arms.

"So," Killer said in a nasty tone. "You wanna tell me that I'm stupid one more time before I pound you into a square?!"

Ella shook her head, annoyed. "Okay, listen, Cinderhella. You better check yourself cause-" Killer punched her in the eye, knocking her to the ground. "The ground is comforting," Ella said, trying to ignore her stinging eye.

**AN: Anyone else think they should make a sequel to Newsies? I would pay to see it! More later, and tic-toc :)**


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